The fine line between love and hate
by Avery Collins
Summary: "God, you're just as arrogant, proud and egotistic as I am. Hate me today love me tomorrow. Here I am willing to look past our flaws, why can't you just let down your ego and let me in, Desiree?" he yelled. "Why? Hating me isn't enough, Arsenio?" I cried, my wall of repressed emotions crumpled. "No damn it! I love you!" he shouted. And my world turned upside down.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1- The Entrance**

"Wow, this is beautiful! I just love the palace. You get to come here everyday, Dad!", I sighed dreamily as I managed to stumble forward across the pathway of the palace courtyard. It was so beautiful there. It was probably on of the most beautiful places in the world.

My father was the King's consult on everything in his life. His best friend, if it were. So he practically lived with the King. In this amazing palace.

My parents were probably the wealthiest and most influential people in the entire kingdom, second in command to the actual royal family.

In case you're wondering, I'm Desiree Westlake. A bubbly, eccentric, impulsive 17 year old.

Normal?

I don't think you'd call vampires normal, right?

That's right, vampires.

We were now in the palace for a grand ball organized by the royal family in celebration of the prince turning 18. He would now be more responsible, sensible, a better leader and best of all, he would get married in a little while. He would soon be king.

Due to my father's connections with royalty, I had personally met the prince once, when we were children. And I must say, after how I threw a tantrum and smacked him hard, it's no surprise my father never let me play with the royals again. And so I grew up, not even knowing how the prince looked. Most girls in the kingdom were convinced that they were in love with the prince, despite not being able to even see his face. This was like his first official public appearance.

Yes, we grow up. Technically, I only grew because I was still a half vampire. My parents and every person in the kingdom above 18 years of age were full vampires. The children have to be turned completely when they're 18. The day I was dreading because a full vampire was far more blood crazed during the initial stages. I had to be turned by my father or preferably by the love of my life. But since the day was a year away, I was trying not to dwell too much on it.

As for the love of my life part, I was 100% sure that wouldn't ever happen. I'm NOT romantic or even over emotional. I was a hot head and impulsive but I was more logical and sensible than most.

I'd liked to think that I was strong, bold, extroverted, confident and fun. I was very tidy and neat and organized. And I threw tantrums because of my fierce and raging temper. So that made me a very difficult person to understand and to live with, and honestly, I don't know how my parents survived.

So here I am; gorgeous, skinny frame, wavy dark brown hair, sparkling jade eyes, creamy white skin, rosy lips and a firm and confident vibe around me. I knew I was pretty, after being told so, repeatedly by many. Now, dressed in a beautiful black chiffon gown that just flowed off my frame like a black rivulet, I was told that I looked drop-dead gorgeous. But that didn't make my snobby like the girls who believed that the universe essentially revolved around them.

The ballroom of the palace was decorated in rose petals and pearls. The rich hues of red, crimson and plum mixed with the delicates tones of the silvery gold of the pearls. Everything, right from the carpets and drapes to the silverware and glasses, were chosen with loving care and excellent taste. I knew the royals did these themselves and was just thrilled to be there. The king and queen were frozen at the age of 28 or something because they both looked like they'd stepped out of a fashion magazine.

That's one good thing about immortality. And now the prince would be frozen at 18 and so would I. But I focused on the other things in the room like the artistic attention to detail and the architectural delicacy of the ballroom.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the star of the evening, to whom we owe this honor to…..please welcome my son, Arsenio Kenneth Rivera", the whole crowd of guest erupted into applause in anticipation of their beloved prince. I was faced away from the grand stairwell; I was not really interested in this. I just came to enjoy the royal food and drink. And to see the palace again. Not for some self-absorbed prince.

Though the sheer enthusiasm and excitement of the guests surprised me but I refused to turn and look. Look into the face that has been hidden for 18 years. To look into the most wanted person in the entire vampire world.

I just faced my back to him and stood, fixing my gaze outside the window. Suddenly, there was silence all around. No cheering, no clapping. Just silence. I glanced to see that the guests were backing away from me. Backing away slowly and softly, their gazes fixed on something behind me. Everyone. Even my parents, with a mask of fear on their faces. I got the feeling that I was being watched from behind. My skin crawled with discomfort as I tried to resist the urge to turn around and ultimately gave in. My breath came out ragged and my heart began to hammer against my chest. I was close to trembling.

I turned around slowly, gracefully. Not intending to show off my elegance but because I was gripped with terror. The nervous butterflies beat against the walls of my stomach. I had no idea what was going on. But something told me I should be afraid. Afraid for my life.

Was it what I think it was?

Oh damn it, yes!

Behind me stood, looking more like a Greek god than a vampire, the prince himself! I tried desperately not to take in that amazing physique, lean, muscular and chiseled but streamlined, lithe and sleek, like a panther; pale pale skin; perfect features; lovely soft light brown hair cut short; and those eyes. The most spectacular, magnificent and furiously blazing grey-blue eyes I'd ever see in my entire immortal life.

Perfection redefined.

"You", he seethed in a voice so divine and yet so poisonous. His amazing features were set in ferocious rage.

"Y-y-our Maj-jesty, uh…" I stammered, unable to take my eyes off his glory. I paused for what seemed like an eternity and then brightly said, "Hi!".

At this, the entire petrified crowd burst into laughter, including the royal family. This seemed to break the ice and everyone got into the party mood. The royals went about greeting everyone and all the guests began to eat and drink and generally have a good time.

But me….

But us…

We just stood frozen in the same spot. I stared into his eyes, revealing no emotion. And he stared into mine with anger that had reduced considerably. Great! I lived.

"How dare you disrespect me!" he murmured in that silken voice I longed to hear. "Tonight was one of the most important nights in my immortal life and you ruined it! With your stubborn arrogance", he snapped.

"You seemed to form an opinion of me already and you've known me for what, 10 seconds?" I yelled back. There's something to be said about pig-headedness. I didn't care that he was a royal. I said what I had to say.

"You have no idea who you're dealing with. I am Arsenio Kenneth Rivera, your future king", he said with pride and the residual anger.

"No, you have no idea who YOU'RE dealing with. I am Desiree Westlake, the guest who doesn't give a damn", I said with equal flourish.

We stood there, so much tension and ferocity between us; I thought we would rip each other's head off. Thankfully, the king intervened.

"I see you've met Desiree, Richard's daughter", the king laughed, patting Arsenio on the shoulder.

"I must say, young lady, you make quite an entrance. Better than the prince's on his own special day!", the king laughed. I immediately liked him. He was very nice and knew how to take a joke, unlike his very beautiful but very proud son, who still stood glowering at me.

The king glanced between Arsenio and me and chuckled. "Well, I'll leave you two to it" and he went off.

Our eyes shot daggers at each other as Arsenio and I walked cautiously off the centre of the dance floor. We kept glaring at each other until I suddenly felt an electric current passing through me. Just rushing through every single cell, cruising in my veins and fizzing in my blood.

I broke our staring contest and touched my arm in surprise. There was no current that I could feel. Then what was that? I glanced over myself in wonder.

"What's wrong?", Arsenio asked, seeing me so confused.

"I can-I can feel some sort of like current or something in me, but I only feel it inside. It's so strange", I said, looking up at him.

"Ah, that can easily be explained, right Alex?", he said a little loudly. He pointed a cute looking guy about his age, farther behind me. Alex Rivera smiled and waved at me. And he hurried off before his brother could say or do anything rash.

"What was that about?" I asked, turning back to Arsenio.

"Alex's special ability is to make someone have the feeling of electricity passing through them. He can change the intensity and make it really painful. But he mainly uses it to show cupid", Arsenio shook his head.

"Cupid?", I asked, not understanding.

"When you're in love, you get that same feeling. So Alex uses it on anyone when he wants to show that cupid's struck there. Like…..", and he motioned between us.

I rolled my eyes and made a gagging noise.

This absolutely enraged Arsenio and he lunged towards me, "Why you little….". The kind gently pulled me away and asked me to dance which I was glad to do.

Huh, Arsenio thought he ruled the world or something. Well, he did, but that's not the point. The point was that he was just a pretentious pompous idiot. And that made the ladies think he was all the more attractive. I thought it just made him snooty. I just hated Arsenio. Just HATED him. Then why was I still thinking about him? Go figure.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2- The dance**

"Well, dear, you've grown up into a lovely lady, I must say. This is quite the kind of person you want to be before you freeze up for eternity", the king clucked as we danced across the ballroom.

"Thank you, your Majesty. Its an honor", I said, holding my tongue and resisting the urge to hug the sweet and loving king.

"Oh you don't have to be so formal with me, honey. Your parents are like family, so are you", he patted me on the back and strolled away as the song ended.

"May I have this dance?", an angel's voice called out to me as I turned around to face the person who'd occupied my thoughts, Arsenio. I couldn't help but burst into sarcastic laughter.

"YOU want to dance with ME?", I asked him, incredulously. He gritted his teeth and resisted a snap back at me and smiled too sweetly.

"It would be my pleasure, Miss Westlake", he said and held out his hand in invitation. The song that played for our dance was a feisty and high energy salsa number.

I was determined to outshine him and set fire to the dance floor so I tried leading. But man, Arsenio was so freaking good, that it turned out to be more like a dance-off of the couple rather than one with other couples. The other couples danced around the edges of the ballroom but Arsenio and I dominated the entire floor. He lifted me with such ease and I did the drops and twirls with such gusto that everyone stopped whatever it was that they were doing to watch us. We tore up the entire floor, but there was just something about it, how we moved together, trying to beat each other, but still moving in sync, entangled.

At last the song came to an end and Arsenio and I took our bows and he strolled off. But he never left my mind. Who did he think he was? Stupid royal.

"Aren't you going to tell me why you wanted to dance with me?", I asked him teasingly as he walked away from some other guests. He made a face when he saw me but he offered no explanation. He just stood silently brooding as I peered at him curiously. He seemed to be in some internal dilemma of whether he should tell me or not. He finally seemed to decide against it and just scowled at me.

"Just get over it. You knew I was better at dancing than you were", he retorted. I rolled my eyes and walked away. That royal had some nerve.

I danced with many fine gentlemen but I would always stick my tongue out at Arsenio when he danced past me and it made him furious. It was funny to see him trying to hide his annoyance from his lovely ladies. All and all, I had a great time at the ball. When all of a sudden, while I was dancing I felt that familiar electric current in my body. But it was different this time. It was so much more intense. My parents had already left and I didn't really know anyone there; because of my giant ego it was hard for me to make friends. I was alone. The current grew stronger and more painful, concentrated in my back. It kept shooting up my spine and in my vessels to every part of my body. Growing more and more until I could bear it no longer.

"AHHHH…." I screamed as my dance partner let go of me. I dropped to knees as the burning pain engulfed me. "Ahhhh….Arsenio! Help me!", I called as I felt the earth fall out beneath me. My head began to reel and everything went dark. I keeled over, anticipating the cold floor against my face but it didn't happen.

"Desiree, no, are you okay?" those words were whispered to me frantically and that's all I remembered before I went under.

**Arsenio's point of view- **

"AHHHH….Arsenio! Help me!" I heard her voice echo through the ballroom. There was a sense of urgency and panic that was unmistakable. _She needed me._

Suddenly, I didn't even see the boring brat of a princess I was dancing with. I just saw that pest of a girl, Desiree. Desiree in danger.

"I'm coming, Desiree!", I shouted to no one in particular as I ran , pushing the guests aside to reach her. Desiree was on her knees and so dizzy and weak that she was going to hit the marble floor and crack her head. I grabbed her just in time. Crazy girl, what happened to her now? Couldn't she just stay out of trouble or out of the lime light? But her condition scared the daylights out of me.

"Desiree, no, are you okay? Desiree?" I called but she was out like a light.

"Who did this to her? Alex?" I shouted in rage. Alex paled but said noting. Everyone had stopped talking and stood, shocked by their prince, on his knees holding an unconscious girl in his arms. Eww, that was going to be a controversy I wanted to avoid. I wanted to drop Desiree and walk away. But how could I leave her? She was hurt, possibly by my brother.

"What in God's name is going on here?" I shouted but no one spoke. Father and mother slowly started to usher the guests out the door. Looks like the party's over.

"Alex, what did you do?" I growled as he looked at me, terrified to think I was mad at him. People knew it was safer and less life-threatening if they avoided me when I was in one of my rages. No one provoked me when I was mad. The results would be explosive. Everyone, except Desiree. She really didn't care that I was a prince; she did what she wanted, how she wanted. She just really pushed my buttons.

"Alex….." I began but I was cut of by my father.

"Alex only did it because I told him to. He is innocent. Hold me responsible, Arsenio", he said as he knelt down beside Desiree and checked her pulse. "She's okay. Your mother and sisters will take care of her from here, son", and gently allowed his wife and 2 beautiful daughters to carry Desiree away.

"Why did you do it, father?" I was shocked to even think he could do something like that, let alone to someone he liked a lot. Yes it was he, who forced me to ask Desiree to dance, because he thought she was such 'a charmingly pleasant' young woman. Yuck.

But why would he want to hurt Desiree? And using Alex to do it? What in the world was going on?

"Father?", I repeated, my confusion only growing by each passing minute. He sighed in defeat and looking into my eyes. In his eyes, I saw pain, burden and a strange tiredness that I had never seen before.

"Father?", I whispered, softening my tone and gaze at once. I can never be mad at people who had no choice.

"Son, I want you to know that I love you, no matter what I do, it is what's best for you, okay? I did that to Desiree because I was forced to test you. I have to ask you, Arsenio, do you like her?", he looked at me gravely.

"No way! Who likes a snobby know-it-all like her anyway? She is so infuriatingly annoying. Urrr", I scowled. Father began to laugh, seeing how immature I looked with my ranting.

"Okay, Arsenio, if you say so", he said and walked away, not bothering to tell me what the 'test' was all about. Way to go, father.

I busied myself with looking for Desiree. My sisters Alice and Mary had her at the bottom of the grand staircase, laughing about something girly.

"Oh gimme a break! Girl giggling? Really? Could you ever get more clichéd?", I groaned as Desiree stuck out her tongue at me. My sisters had to leave so they went upstairs, leaving Desiree with me.

"So Prince Charming, how do you do?", Desiree began sarcastically.

"Don't you have work to do, like other than annoying decent and sensible people?", I snapped, eyeing her in condescension.

"Well, my prince, not everyone is a royal colossal waste of space", she yelled in rage.

That does it.

I sprang for her and slammed her shoulders into the wall. Desiree was taken by surprise and cried out in pain. Normally, it would have permanently damaged a human's spine but Desiree was a half-blood so she did have a part of her super strength, super speed and heightened senses. But she didn't need blood like I did. And right now, I was blazing with thirst. And Desiree's blood smelt intoxicatingly good. I inhaled and leaned forward, desperately trying to fight the demon that thirsted for her life. Trying to regain control. But, oh, it was just so good.

I saw Desiree's eyes widen as she realized what was happening to me. _'Run, run, now! Before it's too late!'_, my mind screamed at her but she just stood frozen, watching me with caution. I just barely managed to push myself off her and turned away. My breath came out in ragged heaves, as I fully absorbed what I had been about to do.

"LEAVE! Now!", I commanded, trying to repress the thought of the lovely warm liquid, trickling down my throat.

I felt better once she was gone and I sat down on the floor, full of regret. What if I'd lost control? I doubted that Desiree would even be alive right now. I squeezed my eyes shut and pinched the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger, lost in thought and worry.

"I trusted you", I heard her voice from the door.

I chuckled darkly, without any humor. "You know, you are endangering your life, every second that you're with me", I said, not looking up.

"I trusted you. I knew you would never do it", she continued, completely ignoring me. She stared walking towards me slowly.

"Do what?", I snarled. It was getting harder to stop myself now.

"Hurt me or bite me or whatever. I know you could never do that to me. I believe you", Desiree knelt down beside me and looked into my eyes. I felt as if she was opening the window to her soul, daring me to look into it.

She was an immaculate person, and yet so hugely narcissistic. Who was she, really?

"You're drooling", she broke the silence.

"Huh, what?", I said, recovering from my deep ponderings. "I'm drooling?", that's it. I take back anything good I ever thought of her. She was just the same old jerk.

"I don't mean that, I mean you're literally drooling. The smell of blood is too strong and getting harder to resist, so you're salivating", Desiree stated in matter-of-fact way.

"Yeah, so? You'll have to live with this too, you know? You're going to be a vampire too", I said, feeling a little annoyed by her observation.

"Yeah", she was distracted. "I wonder what happens when I do this…..", and she leaned dangerously close.

"Desiree!", I called out, shocked by what she was doing? Did she have no self preservation? Desiree burst into laughter by my reaction and jumped up to go.

"Goodbye, my prince", she cooed.

"Good riddance, you little pest".


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3- What's going on? **

"Desiree, what took you so long? Your father was planning to send an army to look for you", mom called as I slammed the door of our huge and luxurious house and ran upstairs.

"Sorry mom! Sorry dad!", I called back. I wasn't really sorry; it was just routine. I just loved the city where we lived. Everyone in the city was a vampire or a half vampire. It was not like we were some weird cult in a secluded city, in a secluded world. We were modern Americans and our kingdoms spread out literally across the world. And we were also part of the people's government and what not. To any non-supernatural, we just looked like normal people, in a normal city. The palace was considerably hidden from human contact. Deceiving humans was easy and they believed just what they wanted to.

In fact, killing innocent humans was banned to all super naturals alike. Vampires usually got their meals from blood banks. They were a few angels and mediums, psychics, spirits in the city; but this was a predominant vampire kingdom.

My thoughts shifted to the happenings of today. Uff, I was so exhausted. It was such a rollercoaster. I plopped down on my plush bed but I couldn't get to sleep. I had nearly been humiliated by a royal, then I bickered with him for the rest of the day, danced with him till my legs gave out, got zapped by his brother for no apparent reason, nearly became his snack, and pushed him to the limits of his self control quite willingly and annoyed him till I knew he could take no more.

I knew I should despise him. Arsenio was just the kind of person I wanted to smack into a wall. Urr, he was so self centered and infuriatingly arrogant and egotistic. But I felt a strange thrill go through me when I said his name. Or even when I thought of him.

Arsenio.

Yuck, what was I doing? I had to get that no-good spoilt brat out of my mind! Thinks he has control over what everyone else does, just because he's a royal. Well, I wasn't going to swoon over his jaw-dropping good looks, his unearthly physique and flamboyant attitude. I was going to loathe him, to the very ends of the earth. If he expected me to drool all over him, he was sadly mistaken.

Arsenio.

Even thinking about trying to hate him involved thinking about him and it was so irritating when that logic made sense to me. I shook my head wildly, as if it would dash him out of it. Sadly, no such avail.

"Desiree!", mom called from downstairs. "Your father and I have something to discuss with you. Come downstairs at once", I hated it when my mother used that tone with me. It was too official and business-like; I knew there was something serious going on and I felt slight discomfort thinking about it. I hurried downstairs, looking out of the huge French windows that we had, on the stairs. It was pouring with rain outside, the wind was gushing about and the clouds roared with thunder and the dark, angry skies lit up with the streaks of lightning. This could get violent.

"Sounds like a real storm's brewing up, huh?", I laughed uncomfortably as I plopped down on the ivory colored couch with my parents. The house looked eerie and dark, a perfect reflection of the weather outside and the atmosphere in the room.

"Honey, its nothing too serious. You don't have to worry", dad said, sensing my discomfort and awkwardness. I let out my breath in a big whoosh and laughed in relief.

"So what up, daddy yo?", I said comically as mom cracked a smile. But there was a strange seriousness to the whole situation.

"Look, Desiree, we're very important to the royal family and they count on your mother and I. But this also makes us second in command for the entire kingdom, that's spread out, worldwide. So we have to go meet some very important people who live somewhere in Asia, I think. They're dangerous and we can't leave you alone or take you with us. So you'll be staying at a friend's, okay? I've already made the necessary arrangements so all you have to do is pack and leave in one hour", dad finished off.

"Isn't all this a little rushed, dad?", I said. I was a difficult person and I didn't like the idea of living at a 'friend's' indefinitely. So I had to know who it was, at least.

"When will you be back?", I asked.

"Not sure, honey. Maybe a month, maybe two, we can't really tell", mom sighed and rushed me upstairs to pack.

"But who are they?", I persisted.

"Okay, if I tell you who they are, will you stop talking and start packing?", mom asked, exasperated. She looked out of the window like their time was running out. I knew there was something that she was hiding.

"Yeah", I answered in a small voice.

"You'll be living with the royals".

"No! Mom, you're making a mistake", I whined as dad took my suitcases up to the front door of the palace. He banged on the huge knocker and turned around to look at me. I refused to climb up the steps at the entrance and just stood there in the yard, as it threatened to pour with rain again.

"Desiree, will you stop being so melodramatic and get inside? We have enough to deal with, without you already being so difficult", mom sighed and for the first time, I thought she looked aged. I knew she wouldn't age and would be forever 29, but she just looked so exhausted that I didn't have the heart to hurt her further. I quietly climbed up the stairs. The door was opened by, Mary, the idiot's sister. She hugged me and we all went inside.

"Father would like to see all of you in the library", she said, as a butler came and led the way. We entered the library, just as magnificent as every other room in the castle. I walked in, surprised that they were going to involve me in the discussion. To my surprise and extreme annoyance, I saw the ever-amazing Arsenio get up from his seat to stick his tongue out at me. What was he doing in here, anyway?

"Well, Richard, did you….", the king asked, addressing my father.

"Yes, I did, Marion", dad replied and the four parents exchanged secret glances. However the king formally welcomed me to the palace, my home for a long time, I knew. And then, Arsenio and I were politely asked to get out.

The two of us walked out silently. I strolled straight out to the front porch where it was beautifully cold and dark even though it was just 4:30 in the evening. Arsenio followed me out.

"Something's going on. I don't know what it is, but it sure is sick", I sighed.

"Yeah. My parents have been acting weird, too. There's something big, that they're hiding and I have a feeling that it's got something to do with me turning 18", Arsenio said, leaning against the parapet that I sat on.

"My parents told me they had to meet someone in Asia and I have no clue when they'll be back", I said, gazing out into the rain.

"Wait, did you just say Asia?", Arsenio was suddenly alert.

"Yeah, why?", I asked, seeing the alarm in his eyes. "Arsenio, what is it? What do you know?".

"Asia, huh? Its funny you should mention that because my father just booked 2 first-class tickets to Beijing, in one week", Arsenio told me.

"Beijing? Do you have family or know anyone in Beijing? The tickets could be for your parents, Desiree".

"No, Arsenio, I am certain. And besides, my parents were rushed and hell bent on leaving today. Like right NOW", I replied.

"Fishy", Arsenio agreed.

"Arsenio, we have to find out what's going on. This could be something serious", I whispered, suddenly feeling chilled. Arsenio nodded gravely.

I glanced at him, realizing that this was the first conversation we'd had where neither one of us had threatened to kill the other and argued in any way. Arsenio looked so serious that I couldn't help laughing. He looked like he was standing on the edge of the earth, the last one alive. His gorgeous eyes peered out thoughtfully, his perfect features colored with worry and his eyebrows furrowed. In many ways, he looked responsible, humble and sweet. Ha! Yeah, right, Prince Charming wasn't humble or sweet. That struck me as hilarious.

He turned to me sharply, looking confused by why I was laughing so hard. "What, Desiree? What, tell me!", he tugged at my arm as I turned to go, still giggling.

"Desiree, I hate being left out", he whimpered like a little child.

"Grow up, you big baby", I managed to say but that was all I could say, for Arsenio scooped me up, bridal style and held me out of the porch parapet into the rain, with nothing but his arms carrying me.

"I'd be glad to drop you, Desiree", he laughed, the sound echoing like wind chimes. But I glared at him in horror because I knew perfectly well that he could and definitely would drop me. And it was a long way down with a big muddy slosh to greet me at the end.

"No! Don't you dare!", I screamed.

"Yes, I do", and the strong arms were gone from underneath me and the wind rushed past me as I braced myself for the hard and disgusting impact. But it never came. My eyes flew open as I realized that I wasn't moving anymore.

"What in the…..", I began and stopped when I saw. Arsenio was carrying me in his arms, safe on the ground. The torrential and might I add, icy cold rain beat down on us as I gazed up him in confusion.

"What….I thought you dropped….but you here…..huh?", I stuttered and took in the closeness between Arsenio and me. He held me close to himself, refusing to meet my eyes. Gently, he let me down.

"Arsenio, what just happened?", I whispered. He looked at me, and for a second I saw a vulnerable and soft look in his eyes.

"I don't know", he murmured and stormed off, leaving me alone in the downpour.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4- Love or hate? **

What.

The.

Hell.

I shivered, soaked to the bone, exhausted and freezing, but still unable to move. What just happened? Was the even Arsenio?

'Of course that was Arsenio. Who else could it be?', I told myself. But there was just some part of me. Some part of my brain that nagged at the back of my mind, that wasn't Arsenio. It just wasn't. However unlikely that seemed, I had a gut feeling that something had changed in Arsenio.

"Desiree?!", Mary called out from the door of the palace. "What are you doing in the rain? Desiree?" and she rushed me indoors.

"You aren't a full vampire so you could still fall fatally ill. You should take better car of yourself", the nurse told me sternly as I sneezed for the millionth time. "Even a full vampire can get sick, you know. Especially when they don't feed often enough. Which seems to be the case of Arsenio. Such a fussy boy", the nurse commented.

I was seated in a beautiful guest room that was now mine. It was decorated with the similar pearl and rose color combinations, which I learnt that Alice and Mary had done, since I had loved it at the party. The royal family was just so wonderful. Alice and Mary were just so sweet and loving. Being 18, they were like the best friends I never had. Alex was laid back, playful and cool. He was just 15, but he had already been turned into a full vampire. He claimed that he had wanted to remain 15 forever.

The queen, Marissa Rivera was too loving and motherly. I took to her at once and I was already so fond of the king. That just leaves Arsenio.

He wasn't to be seen anywhere, since the little….incident outside. He didn't even show up for tea. Mary, Alice, Alex and I sat in the library before dinner, just chit-chatting. We were talking about some boys and girls we knew, the kingdom, movies and stars, just like normal teens.

Until Alex popped the question.

"So what's the deal between you and Arsenio?", he said casually, and I noticed how Mary and Alice nudged each other and studied me intently. Their scrutinizing gaze embarrassed me and made me blush, which I hope they didn't misunderstand as my feelings towards Arsenio.

"What do you mean, 'deal'? There's no deal", I shrugged.

"Uh-huh. So you didn't do or say anything to him that had him so wild and upset all time you were gone?" Alice asked, a little too curiously. It was obvious that I had been an interesting topic of discussion. But oh, I couldn't shut my big mouth, could I? I laughed.

"Oh maybe that was because he almost bit me! And then, I deliberately tested his self control and he almost lost". This outright honest statement was met with serious stares and dropping jaws.

"Desiree! Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? I'm a vampire so I know how hard it is, especially for Arsenio because he…..", and Alice stopped herself. I looked at her expectantly to go on but it seemed like she was about to reveal something about Arsenio that she wasn't supposed to. And I had a strong feeling that it was connected with how Arsenio's behavior changed for just a moment. Like he was a different person. I knew just how to extract the info I needed.

"Hey, you know Arsenio tossed me off the parapet for fun and then he caught me and had me safely on the ground. And here's the funny part, it seemed like he was a different being. How crazy is that? He lost his obnoxious attitude and became this sweet, deep person who saved me!", I said and laughed, as I carefully gauged their expressions. Alex and Mary were the easiest to read. The three of them exchanged glances. But what scared me was that they looked worried and scared out of their minds.

"Guys? What is going on?", I said sharply.

"Oh Alice, do you know what this means?", Mary asked, her eyes wide with fright. Alice merely nodded, lost in deep thought. Even the usually chilled out Alex looked upset. What the hell? Why was everyone freaking out? And why were they acting like I didn't exist?

"Guys…." I began again but I was cut off by Alice.

"Okay, Desiree, time to go. I think it's dinner time", and just like that, my queries were eluded. 'For now', I thought. Dinner loomed, promising to be more awkward and scary than anything I'd ever felt before. Thankfully, the king and queen weren't joining us. So that meant it was just Alice, Mary, Alex, Arsenio and me. Yay!

Alice and Mary were seated across from each other at the table with Alex across from Arsenio. Arsenio was already at the table when I got to the dining room. He didn't even look up to acknowledge me. There was just one seat left, next to Arsenio. And judging by the cold shoulder everyone was giving me, this was going to be painful. Gulp.

I sat down and brightly said, "Hey, Prince Charming!".

"Prince Charming?", Mary laughed. I heaved a sigh of relief. Thank Goodness, at least she was talking to me. Mary, Alex and I kept up an extremely pleasant and lively chatter which Alice joined in at times, but Arsenio remained completely silent. I knew he loved being IN the moment and the centre of attention so it was very unlike him to stay quiet. So I gaily punched his arm, "Hey, Charming, why so glum? You look like you're at the edge of the earth", which turned out to be the wrong thing to do.

Arsenio looked up from his plate straight into my eyes. And then I saw it; his lovely grey-blue eyes were an equally attractive but terrifying forest green. They looked like shimmering emeralds on fire. I just froze, petrified. What…..Arsenio's eyes….were green?

"Arsenio?", I whispered, trembling under the intense gaze of those blazing eyes. "Arsenio?". He just got up and walked away like a violent thunderstorm. I had no idea what I was doing but I got up to run after him when Mary grabbed my hand and slowly shook her head. Alice went after her brother wordlessly. Mary and Alex went to their rooms at once. But I wasn't giving up that easily. I crept into Arsenio's corridor and saw the door of his room; locked like I'd expected and loud shouting on the other side. I gingerly placed my ear to the door. I hated eavesdropping but I had to find out what the hell was going on.

"Arsenio, she's so frightened. You HAVE to tell her what's happening to you, now that she's living here. She's bound to find out", Alice's voice sounded so strained.

"Yeah, who's gonna tell her? You should, since you're such chums", Arsenio snarled. I shuddered; I didn't even recognize him. I knew Arsenio on a level that I'd never expected, despite having met him this morning. And the person behind this door was not Arsenio.

"Do what you want. You always do, anyway. But just know one thing, Arsenio. She was standing all alone in the rain, freaked out by the fact that you caught her; that you saved her and didn't let her fall headlong into the mud. She knows you, in just one day, in a way that I don't, being with you for 18 years. I don't know how or why but I can tell you know her like that too. She deserves to know, Arsenio", and I could hear footsteps approaching the door. I hurriedly ducked into a cloak room until I heard Alice pass the corridor. Then I came out of the cloak room and barged into Arsenio's.

Arsenio, who was furiously pacing the room, looked up in surprise. His eyes were grey-blue again. He seemed to choose his words carefully before speaking.

"Hey, Desiree, what are you doing here?", he said.

"Oh please, cut the crap and tell me what the hell is going on", I snapped. But the set of his jaw told me I wasn't going to get an answer.

"Okay, don't tell me. But at least answer this, why did Alex zap me this afternoon? And what has any of this got to do with our parents acting fishy? And the most important of all, why did you catch me?", it all came out in a rush and I breathed heavily, waiting for an acceptable answer.

"I don't KNOW why my father had Alex zap you; he just told me it was a test. I don't know what our parents are up to", he said, desperately trying to calm down.

"The other question?", I whispered so softly, but he could hear me.

"That…..", he mumbled, his blinding perfection clouding over with emotion. An emotion, I couldn't place. Then I just realized something; Arsenio wasn't completely another person when he caught me. He was still him, maybe in a different way but he was still Arsenio. The drastic change had actually happened before dinner.

"Arsenio, I knew you hadn't changed into this….this other person at that point so tell me why YOU caught me", I demanded, neither of us looking at the other.

"Arsenio?", Mary called, stepping into the room. She saw the two us and blushed. "Is this a bad time?", she asked meekly.

"No, not at all. I was just leaving", I said, acidly glaring at Arsenio who rolled his eyes and I marched out. I faintly heard Mary, "So I'm thinking you still haven't told her?".

"Yeah right, like you could carry off a Dior at a party like this", Arsenio laughed. I was remembering one of the many conversations we'd had that day.

"Of course I can. I would just rock the Dior and the Armani and in fact, any couture gown on the planet", I declared with my usual air of confidence. Arsenio snickered, shaking his head.

"No, girl, you've got the wrong shoulders for that Dior. You're too skinny. That dress needs to fill up a little. And your hair just doesn't work with that subtle mauve", Arsenio said thoughtfully.

I burst into laughter. "You're such a metro sexual, dude".

Arsenio scowled at me, "Knowing and appreciating fashion and having good taste is a crime? Too bad you're such a macho; you'd look good in my selections".

"Oh I'M macho?", I yelled and we had yet another argument. But I was glad I'd had the last word, "Okay fine, lets stop yelling at each other, but just so you know, I'd rock that Dior any day".

We'd talked right from the point he saw my turned back when he first came down till the time I got zapped by Alex. And then when he nearly bit me. I had gone home for just 2 hours and then, we were talking again outside the palace about our parents. Then the episode with the rain. The freaky dining table episode. After that, those few minutes in his room.

But even now, while I was tossing and turning in my room, two nights later, I just couldn't get Arsenio out of my mind. And at this point, it felt completely normal to just think and ponder and worry about him all day. I hadn't been out of my room for two days, just thinking, dreaming and worrying. I sighed, rolling over for the billionth time. We'd just exchanged polite and cold hellos and good mornings but all I wanted was for Arsenio to just say something. Anything. Just to talk to me. Though I knew I'd never admit it to myself, I missed arguing with him. I groaned, finally exhausted with trying to fall asleep. It was raining cats and dogs outside, and it was one of the coldest nights ever. I half dressed and walked out of my room. I just wanted to clear my over stuffed head with some fresh air. And perhaps my mind knew exactly where I wanted to go even when I was on auto pilot. The living room balcony parapet.

I went outside, immediately feeling better. I sat on the parapet when I suddenly heard a noise from my side. I jumped at see it was Arsenio, sitting on the parapet, mirroring my posture. Something told me he hadn't been getting any sleep either.

"Hey" I mumbled. I felt awkward, knowing how the situation was between us.

"Hey", he said, gazing intently at me. "You looked weak and pale. You okay?", he asked. I was surprised to find genuine concern in his voice and just hid it with a small nod.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just worried all the time and I haven't slept in 3 days or even eaten properly. Yeah I'm totally fine", I said, scowling into the rain.

"What's wrong?", he sounded more patient than I knew him to be.

"Like you care", I mumbled, not realizing or understanding why. Freaking great, I was losing control over my own body. Way to go, Desiree.

"I do care, Desiree", he said, looking at me. I was surprised that he sounded hurt. But who knows, this might have been his other personality. Since he's got many to spare, right? I hated myself for the bitterness but I just ignored it.

"Whatever, Arsenio", I snapped. Did he have any idea how much pain he put me through? That it was because of him that I was feeling sick with worry and that I was bed-ridden for 3 days? That it HURT to know he….

"Hey look at me, Desiree? What did I do to deserve this?", he said urgently and lifted up my chin so I forced to look into his eyes. He was still Arsenio, alright. But why was he acting like this? The Arsenio I had known wouldn't have lasted this long in the same room as me without arguing about something.

"Desiree?", he whispered. Then, without any rhyme or reason, my eyes started to fill up. That was just so weird, I NEVER cried. Like ever. But now….

I turned to face him, "Look Arsenio. I just don't know anything anymore, okay? I thought I knew you, but I guess not. I thought I knew my parents, but I guess not. This girl is not me, Arsenio. I am not emotional. But why have I changed in two days? Why do I spend every single moment thinking about you, awake or dreaming? Why do you matter to me so much? I just don't know, okay?", I said and the tears just rolled down my cheeks.

"I was thinking about you too. I couldn't stop. I know this isn't me either. I don't know why. I don't know why I saved you that day. It was like I couldn't let you fall or get hurt, though it wasn't going to hurt you a lot. I don't know why I did it, I just did", he said and the intense tone made me look up into his eyes. The eyes that I had come to love.

Call me crazy, but I think it was sign from the universe because at that perfect moment, the wind blew so hard that I stumbled and lost balance and simply slipped off the parapet, 5 floors high.

"Arsenio!" I screamed as my hand stuck out, reaching for his. But I just couldn't reach far enough as I began my descent, plummeting to my certain death. Being half-blood didn't mean I was going to survive this one. Strangely enough, I was never afraid. I knew in some part of my heart, that Arsenio would save me. No matter what. And he proved me right. I felt his ice cold hands grab me and I was safe and sound in his arms on the ground. He set me down but our eyes burned into each other's. The world around us became oblivious as his arms wrapped around my waist and I held onto his shoulders. I knew we were both leaning towards each other, the gap filling up quickly. I could feel his warm breath on my face and I wanted to do was to just collapse in Arsenio's arms. Nothing else mattered.

He lightly brushed his lips against mine and the world just stopped. Then suddenly, he just let go of me and pulled back. He turned and ran back into the palace, leaving me alone to pick up the pieces of my broken heart.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4- The dream catcher**

"Desiree? Come on. Oh dear, she's trembling".

"Is she okay?".

"What was she doing? Oh she's drenched".

I heard the voices, in the distance but never bothered to makes sense of any of it. I just stood there, dead to the world. Fossilized, broken and numb. I merely felt the arms towing me inside, leading me into my room, the hot shower, dry and warm clothes. But I paid no attention. I was lost completely. In shock.

My parents were God knows where, doing something so secretive that involved the security of the nation. Something the king and queen knew about; and I had no idea if or when I would ever see them again. I was living with people I just met 3 days ago. I was in potential danger since I was a half-blood though I knew no one could ever hurt me here. Arsenio, the one person I felt I could count on had just saved my life and then left me in the rain. And he was acting like there was more than one person in his body. I also got the feeling that every single person here was lying to me. And if all that wasn't enough, I knew I was going fall ill, now after spending time in the freezing rain. Wow, Desiree, you sure are living the dream.

I thought and thought and thought about everything that had happened in the last few days, gently skirting around the incident between Arsenio and me on the parapet. The last thing I needed was re-live the moments which hurt me more than anything else. I faintly remembered Mary sitting me down on my bed and holding my hand till I drifted into a restless sleep.

"Desiree! Help me!", the shrill cry pierced the darkness of the palace. I jolted awake, instantly recognizing the voice in distress. Mom. Mom needed me. I heard her voice right outside the palace. I ran through the dark palace, barefoot and rushed to the living room balcony. I jumped up on the parapet and struggled to peer out into the rain and find them. I knew my parents were here. I just knew it.

"Desiree, help us, please!", dad's voice rang out and I caught sight of them in the yard. Then, suddenly the yard was engulfed in a giant swirling tornado that seemed to suck everything into the ground. The tornado pulled in everything in its path and my parents fought to stay out of its reach. But it was too late. I watched in agony as they were easily thrown into the spinning vortex.

"Mom, dad, NO! I'm coming!", and without a second thought, I readied myself to jump off the parapet. Now, or never. I pushed myself off but something caught me and pulled me back. I turned around to see Arsenio, looking into my eyes, his hands firmly grasping my dressing gown.

"No, don't do it, Desiree", he whispered.

"Arsenio! But my parents, they're…..I have to save them", I said and tugged against his hold.

"They're gone, Desiree. You can't save them. But if you go there, you won't come out again. And I can't lose you, Desiree. Please don't go", he begged me.

"Oh, Arsenio, but I….", I was torn. He gently pulled me closer and brought his lips to mine. For the moment, my parents were forgotten. But then, Arsenio pulled away and laughed. His laugh wasn't like the pleasant and amazing sound that I knew. It was cold, sadistic and mocking.

"What?", I mumbled in confusion. Arsenio held onto my shoulders and simply shoved me hard, sending me down, into the vortex.

"No! Arsenio, save me!", I stretched my arm in hope. Arsenio just laughed, his **green eyes** gleamed in derision. He touched his fingers to his lips and then to my fingertips before it was too late for him to grab me. Not that he would have, anyway.

"Ahhhhh!", I screamed I went into the vortex, Arsenio's dark and evil laughter still ringing in my ears.

My eyes flew open as I jerked awake. I realized just how hard my heart was pounding in my chest and that I was gasping for breath. I was shaking, still confused. Was that just a dream? It had felt so real. I had a sheen of cold sweat on my face and I felt so exhausted that I slumped back into bed, trying to control the heavy panting breaths. But the tears that rolled down my cheeks were unstoppable and also unexpected. I roughly wiped them away; I didn't need to dwell on anything emotional right now. I just had to get some sleep. Just then, I noticed a dark shadow in the corner of my room. I sat up with a start. I was still trembling and unclear of where the line between dream and reality was.

"W-who's there?", I stammered. I heard a soft sigh and Arsenio walked into my view. I just stared blankly at him.

"Man, your heartbeat was just so loud, it woke me up. I mean, yours is the only beating heart in this house so I am frankly surprised everyone else didn't wake up", he grinned and sat down on the bed, next to me.

"Hey, are you okay? You were thrashing and panting and your pulse was just…", he said gently touching my forehead. He drew his hand back swiftly. "Whoa! Desiree, you're burning up with a fever. You almost burned my fingers off!", Arsenio said. I smiled weakly.

"You had a nightmare?", Arsenio asked me. I nodded.

"I don't know where my parents are and I don't if they're okay. I just…..", and I stopped when he gently brushed away my tears.

"Here, take this. Your fever will be gone by morning. That is, if your pride lets it", Arsenio chuckled and handed me a small pill. "Got to sleep. You'll need it", and he was gone. But how could I go to sleep, when the nightmares were hounding me all the time? I woke up, about an hour later, screaming my head off. This time, Arsenio wasn't the only person that I woke. Arsenio came quickly into my room to find me sobbing uncontrollably; he was followed by Alice, Mary and Alex. After being consoled for a while, I was finally able to drop off into sleep, only to rouse the minute they were gone, feeling terrified of being alone. I was really shocked at myself; I was never like this. But there was no way in hell that I would go back to sleep, only to wake the others again. And so, I paced back and forth in my room, knowing well that Arsenio would be able to hear my racing heart. But I couldn't help it. Finally I was just so exhausted that I could even stand up, but the thought of going back to sleep only scared me more.

"God, all I need is just an hour of sleep without being plagued with nightmares", I groaned aloud. "But since I am not going to get any, I might as well get over it and do something productive" and I wandered out of the room to find something to do. I ran right into a wall, smacking myself into it.

"What the….", I started but the realized that the wall was actually Arsenio. He looked like something had woken him up; that something being me.

"What are you doing out of bed at such ungodly hours, Desiree?", he snapped. I just shrugged, not really wanting to tell him anything about the repeated nightmares. Hey, no one needed to suffer with me. But I had forgotten how perceptive Arsenio was.

"Nightmares again?", he guessed. I just sighed. He shook his head in sympathy. "Afraid of being alone?", he asked. I nodded.

"Okay then, I'll stay right here with you. So you can get to sleep and you won't be alone", he said and without waiting for my reply he just towed me along to the bed. I sat down cautiously but I wouldn't dare fall asleep. The strangest part was that Arsenio sat with me there for the remainder of the night, trying to coax me into sleeping. I had never seen this side of him, patient, caring, loving, concerned and thoughtful. I had to admit, this side of him was so amazing, and it only made him more attractive. I roughly shook that thought out of my head.

Something I would never tell Arsenio was that I would probably be out like a light if someone would hug me tight. I had always needed that after having a nightmare, ever since I was a little girl. So I tried to hug myself as tight as I could, to fool my brain into thinking that everything would be alright. Too bad it didn't work. But Arsenio noticed me squirming and smiled. I stretched out on the bed and put a pillow across my stomach. Arsenio raised his eyebrows at me.

"It'd feel like someone was hugging me and I'd probably fall asleep", I muttered. Arsenio shook his head and pushed the pillow away. When I glared at him, he sat down on the bed and pulled me into his arms.

"Huh?", I mumbled into his chest.

"You just focus on going to sleep, okay?", he whispered and it sounded like he was suppressing laughter. I nodded and fell into a deep slumber almost immediately.

I drifted just below the surface of consciousness when I heard someone enter the room. But I was still half-asleep so I couldn't react but I could clearly hear what was going on.

"Arsenio, what are you doing?", Alice said, in surprise.

"I finally got her to sleep. She was afraid that if she slept, she might have nightmares and being alone made it worse", he said softly, lightly covering my ears so I wouldn't wake up. How thoughtful of him! But I could still faintly hear.

"Yeah, I saw all her nightmares. Man, she's worried sick about her parents", Alice said. I felt Arsenio nod. Alice's special talent was that she could see other's dreams and nightmares, as if they were her own.

"But not all of them were about her parents", Alice said, her voice becoming more cautious. Oh, Alice, no! Please no, don't tell him.

"They were about you, Arsenio".

"What, me?", Arsenio was an excellent actor. I knew that but it wouldn't fool Alice.

"Only they seemed more like memories than actual dreams. Arsenio, is there anything you'd like to share with me?", Alice asked gently. Arsenio groaned. "Look, Arsenio, I see all that about you in her dreams and then I come in her to find you holding her as if nothing else matters. What am I supposed to think?", Alice said, sounding frustrated.

"Alice, there's nothing going on".

"Oh really, Arsenio? Let me remind you that hers aren't the only dreams I can see. She was in yours as well", Alice said, now sounding annoyed. I was stunned. Arsenio dreamt of me?

"Alice I thought we talked about that. Seeing my dreams without asking me", Arsenio seemed to try anything to divert Alice.

"Oh please, Arsenio, not now", Alice grumbled. I decided I had heard enough, so I pretended to wake up, gently lifting my head and mumbling "Arsenio?".

"Shh, go to sleep. Everything's okay", Arsenio patted my head onto his shoulder and soothed me till he thought I was asleep.

"Can we do this later, Alice?", he said, sounding very irritated. Alice must have nodded because I heard her leave the room. I instantly sat up. Arsenio looked at me in surprise.

"What is going on?", I snapped. Arsenio sighed, looking tired.

"How much of that did you hear?".

"Try everything?", I said and giggled. Arsenio shook his head and ducked it. I peered closely and to my utter shock, I saw that he was blushing! My mouth hung open.

"So you dreamt of me?", I prompted.

"So YOU dreamt of me?", he prompted me.

"Yeah", we both said together and burst out laughing. Thankfully neither of us pushed it further. I thanked him profusely for staying with me and he shook his head, saying it was unnecessary. We just talked a little bit more and he decided to go back to his room. I walked with him to the door.

"Okay then, see ya", he smiled at me and turned to go when Alex appeared, staring at us with wide eyes. I realized what he saw; Arsenio sneaking out of my room in the early hours of morning. And for once, we hadn't argued or bitten each other's head off.

"Alex", said Arsenio warningly before Alex burst into laughter. He fell to the ground laughing, holding onto his sides as if they were splitting. And without another word, he used his vampire speed and rushed out of the room, still laughing.

I just stared at Arsenio and he stared back at me. I don't know how long we stood like that but finally he sighed and mumbled a goodbye and hurried away. I bit my lip and plopped down on the bed, wondering what the new day would bring for Arsenio and me.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 5- The new Arsenio**

"Good morning!" I chirped cheerfully as I sat down at the dining table. Alex, Alice and Mary were already there. The king and queen were to join us for breakfast this morning. I was feeling a lot better since I had actually managed to get some shut eye last night. I smiled hugely at everyone.

"Someone's in a good mood this morning, this morning. Why, what'd you do, Desiree?", Alex muttered teasingly.

"Alex!", I said glaring at him. He snickered but didn't say anything else.

"What are you talking about, Alex?", Alice said sharply. I groaned internally, Alice never missed anything.

"Nope nothing to talk about, right Alex?", I said brightly.

"Hey guys! What's up?", as if on cue, Arsenio breezed into the room, looking more like a Greek god than anyone was allowed to. I tried to stop my ogling and looked down at my plate. I couldn't believe I had the impulse to even look up at him.

"Hey Princess Sleep-a-lot!", he teased, sitting across from me. I didn't know why I always rose to the challenge whenever he teased me, irrespective of how ridiculously childish it was. Again and again, I never failed to flash my short-tempered, arrogant, egotistic and fussy side. And it was countered by Arsenio's equally annoying side that lead to bickering and frequent arguments. But after last night, after seeing how patient he was with me, I began to see Arsenio in a new light.

Sure, he could still be infuriatingly annoying, immature and full of himself; but he was really deep, emotional and intense.

"So, Arsenio, did you sleep alright?", Alex began, a mischievous smile, spreading across his youthful face. My eyes widened as Alice and Mary looked up in interest. Just then, the king and queen came downstairs and joined us at the table. There was light and lively breakfast chatter for a few moments and I relaxed, knowing Alex wouldn't bring it up again.

"So, Arsenio, did you sleep okay?", Alex asked again, in a very pestering voice.

Oops I thought too soon.

I stretched out my leg, to nudge Arsenio under the table, while trying not to look too conspicuous. I felt his leg and gave a sharp nudge, while fixating my eyes on him; he had to know I was warning him not to say anything. I nudged harder but he didn't react, just bending over his plate of muffins. I scowled at him and pressed harder when suddenly, the king glanced under the table in surprise.

"Why, Desiree, why on earth are you nudging me?", he asked. My face grew hot rapidly as I hurriedly pulled my leg away. Alex burst out laughing. The queen, Alice and Mary, tried to suppress laughter and just continued to chew on the pancakes.

Arsenio looked up at his father and then at me. He must have seen my bright red face but he couldn't resist, could he? For the rest of the meal, Arsenio tried to get me to say why I was nudging the king and Alex tried to get me to confess that I was actually trying to nudge Arsenio. Soon, there was a full fledged war across the table, between Arsenio and me about who was better looking. It was one of our usual doses of bickering and even Alex decided to back down. The others at the table watched us in amusement.

"Please, Sleeping Beauty, have you even **seen** me? The ladies die for this!", Arsenio claimed, tossing his hair with such flair and motioning to his physique.

"No, Prince Charming, you haven't seen **me. **Girls would injure their self esteem just by being in the same room as me", I said, brushing my hair off my face and striking a pose.

"Sleeping Beauty? Prince Charming?", the queen, Marissa, murmured to Mary who giggled.

"Quiet, mother. It gets better", she said.

"Well, have you seen the way they just swoon when they see me? Along with drooling all over me" Arsenio declared, propping his legs onto the dining table and crossing them haughtily. He hurriedly brought them down, once he saw his mother's glare.

"Well, someone ought to tell you how guys line up just to get a date with me", I retorted.

"Yeah, right. Like that's gonna happen", he laughed as we left the table and yet didn't stop the argument. An hour later, we were still arguing; this time about whose hair was better.

"Oh puh-leze! Any girl would kill to have my hair", Arsenio ran his hand through his hair, making him look so gorgeous that my heart rate spiked up. He glanced stridently at me but I just shook my head.

"No way, dude. I wouldn't kill for your hair".

"Well, perhaps you misheard. I said GIRLS would kill for it. I wasn't counting you as a girl" and Arsenio gave a quick yelp after that comment as I smacked a huge pillow on his face.

"Oh my god! Would you two just shut it?", Alice shouted, rubbing her temples. We were now in the salon and Mary was styling my hair.

"Pruning the bush, are we?", Arsenio commented as Mary snipped off a bit of my hair.

"MY hair? A bush? You have got to be kidding me", I scowled at Arsenio's reflection in the huge mirror.

"Well, you have to admit, one tug of those flimsy locks of hair and you'd have a handful of breakages", he commented, shaking his head, as if he was sympathizing with me.

"Oh really? Well, I think you're the one with FLIMSY locks!", I snapped and bounded off the chair. Arsenio rose from his casual pose too.

"Let's see who's got the flimsy locks around here, Prince Charming", I scoffed.

"Bring it on, Sleeping Beauty", was his reply. I stood in front of him and touched his hair lightly. It was so soft and silken that I couldn't resist tugging it tenderly between my fingers. I was just fascinated by its smooth lusciousness and sheen. Its divinely rich cocoa brown color and short locks of perfect hair.

"Now what have we here?", Arsenio teased, seeing how engrossed I was with his hair. I pulled my hand away, clearing my throat with embarrassment. My heart sped up at the thought of what I was doing. Arsenio laughed, obviously hearing it.

"Now my turn", and he ran his fingers through my hair. I stood perfectly still as he tugged it gingerly, smoothed it, and drew his fingers through it. I could tell he was amazed by it too and I fixed a smug self satisfactory smile on my face. He dropped his hands.

"Wait one sec…..", he said as he reached up and tangled his fingers in my hair again as I did exactly the same in his. I didn't know why I did that at the exact same moment he did. But there we stood; his fingers in my locks and my fingers curled around his. I looked straight into his eyes and he did the same. I didn't know how long we stood like that but we dropped our hands the moment someone uncomfortably cleared their throat in the room, both of us blushing hard.

"So does that mean I win?", Arsenio asked playfully.

"No way in hell", I riposted.

"So, Mary, how are you?", I asked Mary as we both sat down in my room for a little girl time. Mary smiled at my attempt to have small talk.

"Good", she said. "You know, you could tell me about your life. I mean, I've only met you, like a week ago. So tell me how you lived till then".

"Nah, there's nothing to tell. But your life is bound to be more interesting. Come on, Mary, spill", I pressed her.

"Okay, well I was turned about 7 years ago, when I was 18. So that makes me what, 25? You know, Alice was turned 12 years ago, when she was 18. So technically she's 30. Arsenio was turned last year when he turned 18; Alex was turned with Arsenio at 15. And well, you'll be turned next year. How do you feel about that?", Mary asked.

"Can we just talk about your family?", I grumbled.

"You know, ever since Arsenio was a kid, he was born a king. I mean, we all knew he was going to be the perfect ruler. The typical poise, ego, flair, pride, confidence and faith. Even when he was 3 years old, he acted like he ruled the world. And when he was 6, we had this guest, a vampire clan leader. He spoke to Arsenio and well he was afraid of him! That day I knew, Arsenio was the ONLY 6 year old who could efficiently rule the vampires of the world. I mean, VAMPIRES are afraid of him, Desiree. But you. You just don't care that he's royal. You aren't afraid of what he is?", Mary asked me in wonder. I shook my head at once.

"No of course not. He's just Arsenio to me".

"Desiree, I've seen the way you two argue. He shows his immature, petulant, supercilious, shallow side. But I want you to understand, that face of his is just so superficial. He's really very deep, caring, loving, sweet, impulsive, compassionate, sarcastic and emotional", Mary paused and laughed. "He's VERY intense with whatever he's feeling. And almost INSANELY jealous! You can't even begin to imagine how possessive he can get", Mary took my hand in hers.

"Desiree, I know you want to know what happened that night at dinner; when his eyes….turned green. But that's something only he can tell you and he will; whenever he's ready. All I can say is that Arsenio was deeply hurt. So yes, Arsenio has a deep, dark side that would make him an ultimate bad boy but only he has the right to tell you anything, okay?", Mary stopped, looking like she was going to say something.

"Desiree, I've never seen anyone behave like the way you do with Arsenio and I've never seen him react the way he does to anyone. So I know you mean something to each other. So, just give him time; he'll open up to you", and Mary got up and excused herself. I just stared at the ceiling lost in thought. I was seeing Arsenio as a completely different person now. Not just because of what Mary told me. The following days I spent at the palace, every minute of it was with Arsenio, or thinking about him. I got to know him so well, everything there was to know. Every aspect of his life and choices. I, in turn told him everything about myself, and I found him taking in every detail with utmost interest. Being with Arsenio became such an easy, natural and necessary part of my life. But he never spoke of the weird change in him that night and that proved him to be more of a tall, dark and handsome kinda guy.

Spending all day with him, often quarreling showed off his gentlemanly side as he often gave in just to spare me.

In his heart, he was rebellious, dark, mysterious, wounded and sarcastic, a cliché, I know but I had to admit it was pretty darn attractive. I shut those feelings away as soon as I got them, hopefully for a long time. I knew this was friendship and nothing more.

But he was always there for me and his compassion was impeccable. Life would have been perfect but then the royal couple dropped the bomb on us, after about 8 days of me living there.

"Your mother and I have to go meet some clan leaders in Beijing. They insist that it's a matter of their clan's security. So we must leave, tonight", King Marion said. Arsenio and I exchanged glances. We had seen this coming but hadn't really known what to do about it.

"Beijing? Isn't that where my parents are?", I asked trying to act casual.

"Oh, we think your parents are somewhere else Asia, dear. But we hope to hear from them soon, so don't you fret", Queen Marissa told me soothingly. I nodded, knowing that they knew exactly where my parents were and refused to tell me.

"Well, have a good trip, mother and father", Alex said. And they were gone. Arsenio and I went to our favorite place, the living room balcony to discuss the matter. And we just had to do something about it.

"I know! Lets go to Beijing and see for ourselves!", Arsenio piped suddenly.

I chuckled, thinking he was joking but he didn't laugh with me.

"Wait are you…kidding me?", I stuttered in shock.

"No of course not".

I saw that he was perfectly serious on going to Beijing.

Dead serious.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7- Destination China**

"You have lost your mind. Yep, there's absolutely no doubt about it", I muttered. Arsenio rolled his eyes. But he looked preoccupied by the plans to go to Beijing. That was, presuming he could leave the house, unnoticed. He was a prince, after all. Arsenio's brows furrowed as he snapped his fingers, apparently deciding something.

"Let's go", he whispered urgently rushing past me. I stared at him incredulously.

"Excuse me? 'Let's'?", I glared at him. He groaned impatiently.

"We don't have time for this. Just hurry up and pack!", he grabbed my arm and yanked me into my room. He turned to go, in an obvious hurry.

"Hey, I don't even know why I'm packing", I yelled. Arsenio shushed me, placing his finger on my lips.

"Don't want anyone to hear you. Well, pack for a week, I think" he whispered. I grabbed his arm.

"I think you misunderstood, I have no idea why I am packing", I snapped.

"We're going to Beijing", he was confused.

"Oh no, 'we're' not going to Beijing. 'WE'RE' not going anywhere", I smirked obstinately.

"Oh do you really wanna do this now?", Arsenio sighed in frustration. I could see his 'plan' didn't include me fussing and throwing tantrums. Then he threw to me, a line, he knew I couldn't refuse.

"Do you want to see your parents, or not?", Arsenio asked, looking into my eyes earnestly. I scowled, accepting that Arsenio already knew my answer.

"Okay, remind me, again why we're sneaking out of the back door. I mean, you practically own the city", I muttered, as Arsenio and I ducked out of the back palace entrance, through the hedges onto the street where there was a cab with our name on it. Not literally.

"I don't want Alice, Mary or Alex to find out what we're doing. They'd only worry", he murmured.

"And be justified", I rolled my eyes.

I shivered, the cold rainy weather feeling a little uncomfortable in a white button down shirt and pink cardigan over blue jeans and flats. All my stuff was packed in one single bag, so was Arsenio's. He convinced me that we'd go clothes shopping at Beijing. Soon, we were speeding off on our way to the international terminal.

After all the customs checking, a thought occurred to me; "How'd you get the tickets, when we decided to leave an hour ago?", I asked Arsenio.

"I've got connections, babe", Arsenio straightened his collar. "Please tell me you've got your cell phone with you", he said. I flashed my Blackberry at him and saw that he'd got his phone as well. He nodded in approval at me. We soon boarded the plane and found our seats; mine at the window and his next to mine. We settled down and buckled in for take off. The plane taxied to the end of the runway and took off smoothly. My stomach did nervous little flip flops, not just because of the take off but also because I had no idea, whatsoever what this adventure would have in store for us. And that was a little scary.

"Ok, we're all set. Just sit back, relax and act like we're on vacation, darling", Arsenio said to me, seeing my panic-stricken face.

"Darling?", I scoffed though my sarcasm was marred by my breathlessness.

"Yeah, sweetie. What else would I call you? We are after all, on our honeymoon", Arsenio chuckled. As my eyes bugged out of my sockets, he flashed our plane tickets. I studied our names on it; Mr. and Mrs. Rivera.

In fact, it was Mr. **Marion** and Mrs. **Marissa** Rivera. Great, we were pretending to be Arsenio's parents, on our way to Beijing, not even fully packed with no idea why exactly we were going there!

My eye caught something on the ticket, Place of destination: Shanghai!

"Wait, why are we going to Shanghai?", I asked, taking the tickets from his hand.

"Well, I am pretty sure Alice would tell our parents where we were going and I just wanted it to be somewhere misleading, only slightly. While not too inconvenient for us", Arsenio smiled proud, that he thought of this.

"So Alice knows?", I asked.

"She might. I mean, I think she does", Arsenio answered.

"You **think** she does? What the hell?", I made a face.

So let me rephrase; great, we were pretending to be Arsenio's parents, on our way to **Shanghai,** not even fully packed, with possible vampire siblings tracking our every move and having no idea what we'd face when we got there!

I scowled and shut my eyes, deciding not to talk to him. I hadn't even realized that I had fallen asleep until I was jarred awake by a nightmare that hadn't succeeded in scaring me completely. But it was enough for me not to be able to go back to sleep again. I breathed heavily as Arsenio sat up beside me.

"You okay, Desiree?", he said, holding my hand in concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Go back to sleep", I assured him but he gently pulled me to lay on his shoulder.

"Sleep", he told me soothingly. And I did, peacefully, loving the softness of his black sweater.

**Arsenio's point of view- **

"Is she okay?" the woman sitting across from us asked me. She was a human. In her mid thirties, well dressed and busy looking. I smiled, supposing that she was bored and wanted to make small talk. So I decided to entertain her.

"She's fine, just tired", I said smoothly. I could practically hear the woman's heart rate speed up when she saw my smile. This was the reaction that I anticipated from most women, supernatural or otherwise. Even from Desiree. I often heard her heart rate spike up when she saw me. Well, that's how I was designed; to be alluring to humans. They were our prey, though now we didn't feed from humans as much and depended on blood banks.

I had thought over the plan again and again. Alight at Shanghai and take the train to Beijing. Then, get to the hotel and freshen up. Go to the vampire colony in Beijing and talk to Mr. Miyagi, their leader. Check if our parents were still in Beijing. Find out the problem and fix it. I wasn't too sure of how we'd 'fix' it but I was certain that we could manage. Okay, almost certain. Maybe. Hopefully.

I knew how it would sound if I told Desiree about the 'plan'. So I decided that she didn't have to know. Not until she began to disobey and refused to co-operate, anyway. Well, that's settled.

I shut my eyes and fell asleep, my head resting on Desiree's on my shoulder. When I woke up, I realized that we had both slept for 6 hours. I woke Desiree when the stewardess got us our dinner.

"Ew, I hate aero plane food", Desiree made a face but still dug into the food. I nodded in agreement. But it was all we'd have on the plane.

"Okay, so Alice knows we're headed to Shanghai, your parents are sure to find out, we don't have enough supplies for our stay here, we're flying under assumed identities, we have to get to Beijing, and we have no idea if our parents are there, correct?", Desiree asked gravely. I nodded.

"Okay, so what's our plan?".

"Plan?", I tried to buy myself some time so I could actually formulate a better plan.

"Yes, plan. You know, what are we going to do? You must have thought of something when we hopped on a plane and flew half way around the world!", she raised her voice in annoyance.

"Would you please keep it down?! I am trying to think here", I said.

"Oh this is just great!", she grumbled. And I slowly repeated the plan to her. I tried not to wince under her death glare when I finished. She turned her face and refused to say another word.

"Des?", I started when we got off and walked through the airport.

"No, Arsenio. You don't get to 'Des' me. Not after all this" and she began to walk away. I ran after her.

"Hey where are you going?".

"I'm catching the next train to Beijing and finding my parents", she retorted, walking faster, though I could keep up easily.

"Oh great! That's what I'm doing. Hey, maybe we can do it together?", I suggested, as we waited to cross the busy street of the lively city.

"No, Arsenio! I'm finding my parents alone. I don't need your help at all", still glaring at me, Desiree began to cross the street without noticing that the signal was still green. A car came speeding towards her, hooting wildly, unable to stop.

"No, Desiree!", I shouted and grabbed her hand, pulling her out of harm's way.

"What, let go of me", she freed herself from my grasp. Desiree turned around and saw the car standing on the same spot she had. It would have run over her if she hadn't moved. Desiree looked at me apologetically and smiled.

"Sorry and thank you", she said curtly. But she didn't stop walking away from me. I followed reluctantly. I mean, we were going to the same place, after all. The Shanghai Hongqiao Station to catch our 5 'o' clock train to Beijing South Station. Desiree hurried across the bustling platform at Hongqiao to the tickets counter. I kept up easily, without even trying. She kept forgetting that it was o use to outrun me, I was a vampire and I could run 10,000 times faster than she could. I grabbed her coat, "Des, wait up. I'm coming with you", but she shook me off and stormed up to the counter.

"One, to Beijing, please", she informed the man as she ruffled through her coat pockets looking for her brown wallet. Which was now gripped in my hand.

"Looking for something?", I held it up and saw Desiree's eyes light up in annoyance when she saw it.

"Give me that", and she made a grab for it. "You're sneaky".

"Here you go", she handed the money to the man behind the counter but he refused and muttered something unintelligible. He spoke up, seeing Desiree's confusion but his language was just too incoherent.

"Let me handle this", I said and smoothly pushed past Desiree up to man. I looked deep into his eyes, easily compelling him to give us tow tickets for the high speed train to Beijing. Compulsion is a vampire ability, where you can make the other do what ever without really remembering anything. The man mechanically passed me the tickets and I thanked him and handed him the fare. Desiree snatched her ticket from me angrily and stormed to the platform where our train would arrive, which was in about 5 minutes. We rushed into the train and sat down for it was a high speed bullet train and the journey was for 4 hours. I sighed, seeing Desiree's scowl. This was going to be a long trip. I tried to look out of the window at the fast moving scenery and busy populous landscape. Then, I felt Desiree's hand grab my shoulder. I turned to look at her and saw her looking at her shoes, her face pale and anxious.

"What's wrong?", I asked, looking down as well.

"That man, at my 8'o' clock, he smiled at me, and he flashed his fangs!", Desiree said, sounding terrified.

"Calm down, Des. He's probably just fooling with you. I mean, he knows you know about vampires because you're with me. And besides, he can sense that you're half blood. I wonder what his special ability is", I mused aloud.

"What's your ability? I know Alex's and Alice's. What about yours and Mary's?", Desiree asked, forgetting the man who smiled at her.

"Mary's ability is to sense feelings of people. I am not sure about mine. It hasn't developed to the fullest extent. That's my excuse to come see Mr. Miyagi in Beijing. He's a wonder with diagnosing why it hasn't shown itself yet and what it can possibly be", I explained.

"Mr. Miyagi's clan is okay with you just showing up there like that?", Desiree asked, a critical tone entering her voice.

"They are. This isn't the first time either. I just LOVE China. I've just shown up at Mr. Miyagi's shrine way too often for anything to change now. I use his shrine as a chance to get away from everything. This is the second time I'm coming here since I've been turned", I smiled at the fond memories of my childhood with Mr. Miyagi. He felt like family.

"I see. So where do we go once we alight at Beijing?", she asked.

"I think we'll arrive there at about 10 in the night. We should get to the hotel and get some rest. Mr. Miyagi lives outside Beijing and we can go, first thing tomorrow", I told her, happy that she was onboard with the whole thing.

"Okay. But why are we going to see Miyagi? Do you think he'll know where your parents are? Or mine?", Desiree asked, puzzled.

"I am sure he'll know. He's the kind of man you'd expect to know everything. And we really have no other option", I said, hoping it didn't sound as 'wild goose chase' as it was. But Desiree just nodded.

The train pulled in at Beijing West Station and we hurried out. It was cold, windy and drizzly, a welcome change to traveling in the train.

We walked to the entrance of the station, stopping before we stepped out into the city. I took a deep breath, not a necessity, just readying myself for the adventure ahead, no matter how dangerous or disappointing. I strode confidently forward and smiled encouragingly at Desiree, who seemed reluctant about it. I stretched out my hand for her to take, to take the leap of faith. I knew she understood what I meant; we never needed to talk to communicate.

Desiree clasped her hand into mine and took the step forward.

"This isn't a **leap** of faith; it's a bound", Desiree said darkly. I was surprised she knew exactly what I had been thinking.

"Not a bound", I corrected her, "It's a **plunge**".

**A\N: Hey guys! Thanks for following the story! Don't forget to review! That's what fuels my creativity, you know…. Okay, I've put up a list of the casting for this story on my profile. Go check it out! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8- "Waiter, I'll have some double crosses with a side helping of treason please". **

"Okay, so where to, now?", Desiree asked, looking up to face me. I could tell she was exhausted mentally and physically.

"To the Beijing Xinyuan Hotel, for the night", I assured her with a smile. She nodded happily and we made the short walk to our luxurious 5-star hotel. I approached the receptionist, "Hello, I called to make the reservations for a couple of days, Mr. Marion Rivera", I informed smoothly. The woman looked at me longer than necessary and flashed a smile.

"Of course Mr. Rivera. Your suite is ready, if you would just follow Susie", and a woman, presumably Susie led us a few floors up to a beautiful suite, overlooking the city.

"I hope everything is in order", Susie asked with unnecessary warmth. I nodded and thanked her, locking the door behind her. I turned to look over the suite; the walls were an attractive mint green with bed covers and carpets that complemented the shade, large and luxurious double bedrooms, with a kitchen and a living room. Desiree lay flat on her back on the couch, eyes shut. She groaned and sat up.

"I need to know what's going to happen tomorrow. Or else the suspense is going to **kill** me", she scowled childishly. I laughed.

"Well, we just have to live it out. You know, if you got some sleep, the wait wouldn't seem so long. Before you know it, we'd be headed to the shrine tomorrow", I suggested. Desiree agreed, though I could sense she wasn't so comfortable about going to sleep, probably because of the nightmares. But we both slept solidly that night, only waking up at the jangling alarm. I lumbered into Desiree's room and woke her up.

"**Its 5 AM, Arsenio!** God, what am I doing with myself?", she grumbled as she went to shower. Within the next hour, we were all dressed up for the day and just finished eating some instant noodles since we didn't have time to eat much. We hurried to the next district in the sprawling city, Shijingshan. In a quiet corner of the district, the ancient shrine where Miyagi lived stood proudly boasting its rich heritage and cultural history. While the shrine really was a centre for finding inner peace and all the other 'shriney' stuff, it was also the headquarters of the Miyagi clan of vampires.

We walked in, I was immediately struck by its simple beauty, the architectural intricacy; air smelt of incense and the warmth of the shrine warded off the morning air's shill. It was like I had switched on auto pilot as I just went straight into the main temple and found Mr. Miyagi's pedestal where he sat to meditate. But the place was empty.

"Mr. Miyagi? Anybody home?", I called hopefully.

"Oh great", Desiree turned to go and shrieked. I spun around to see her faced with Mr. Miyagi himself! "I'm so sorry, sir, you just caught me off guard", she mumbled. I looked at Mr. Miyagi; same as ever, he had this knowing look in his sparkling black eyes, wrinkled skin, white hair tied into a Chinese bun-thingy, his kimono simply blue and grey and his lip stretched into a smile.

"Miyagi!", I ran to him and hugged him tight, feeling like a five year old again. I felt his arms grip my back, smiling because he was just so tiny, he came up to my bicep.

"Ah, Arsenio my child!", he said, his frail little voice, thickly coated with a Chinese accent.

"Miyagi, this is Desiree Westlake, though I am sure you know all about her and what we're doing here", I guessed. Desiree glanced at me in confusion.

"Arsenio, I received a phone call from Marissa this morning, warning me that you two might show up. I was also instructed not to reveal anything about their whereabouts. As you do know, I am a man of my word. I shall do nothing to disrespect the faith that Marion and Marissa have in me", Miyagi was apologetic.

"Yeah, that's what he told me too", a voice called from behind us. I wheeled around to see…**Kenneth! **

"Ken!", I strode over and we wrapped each other in man hugs. "Its been too long, man!", I exclaimed, taking him in. Ken had amazing raven black hair, grey eyes that made the ladies swoon and an admirable physique. He didn't really look Chinese and didn't have an accent either. We were about to get into those long discussions of catching up when Desiree cleared her throat.

"Oh, Ken, this is Desiree Westlake. Des, this is Ken, my significant other", I laughed.

"Kenneth Jonas, at your service", Ken bent low, kissing Desiree's hand. I rolled my eyes as Desiree gave a small giggle. "You know, I've known Arsenio since the day he was born, literally. I mean, I was just a year old, but still we got along just fine! We've been best buds all our lives. I was turned a year before he was, though", Ken said, looking at me, all the affections of a brother in his eyes.

"Yeah, Alex was just too young to play with me so I had Ken with me", I smiled at the memories of the countless days Kenny and I had played together.

"Yeah, the dude even stole my name! Named himself Arsenio **Kenneth **Rivera!", Ken laughed. I shrugged, allowing that. Desiree chortled.

"So when's the big day, Ken?", I asked him seriously. He knew at once what I was talking about.

"Aw man, not sure I have a situation here", he said.

"What big day?", Desiree asked Ken.

"The day I'm crowned prince of a smaller clan in America", he said. But he seemed disturbed by something else.

"What's the 'situation', Ken?", I asked in concern. But I wasn't ready to hear that response.

"My parents are missing".

"WHAT?", Desiree and I said together.

"Funny, 'cause so are mine", I said.

"Mine too", Desiree added.

"Would you look at that?! Well, folks we have a lot of work to do seeing how Miyagi wont help us", Ken said, a bit too loudly, hoping Miyagi would hear us. But I laughed, that never worked with Miyagi.

"Okay, so here's the browser history of my parents' laptops; they bought tickets to Beijing the same day your parents did, Arsenio", Ken said, as we set up camp at the shrine. The room got the feel of an FBI tech room, because my laptop, Ken's laptop, his parents' laptops, three of our phones and various other devices were strewn about as we began our 'investigation'.

"Okay, I got the phone records for both my parents phones", Ken brought a few sheets and handed them to Desiree.

"Geez, Ken, are you stalking your parents or what?", Desiree teased as she looked over the records. I didn't miss how Ken sat so close to her, their knees almost touching. How they kept staring at each other. I ground my teeth in annoyance. I had no idea why it bothered me. I shook it off. I had been watching them flirting for the past hour.

"My mother called a Richard Westlake and an Irene Westlake nearly 20 times in a few days", Ken mused over the records.

"My parents!", Desiree said in surprise.

"My father also called your parents multiple times in a matter of days. Do you think they knew each other, Des?", Ken asked. I scowled at him calling her 'Des'. Only **I **called her **'Des'**! How could he do that?

I tried not to let jealousy get the better of me.

"I don't know, Kenny. Maybe your parents even came to my house. I wouldn't know because I don't know how they look", Desiree said, not minding the usage of 'Des'.

"Okay, here take a look at a picture of my mother", Ken leaned close to Desiree and showed her the photo on his phone. To his surprise Desiree laughed.

"You mean, **MY mother**", she clarified.

"No, I mean **MY mother**", Ken said clearly.

"Stop kidding around, Kenny! That's my mother", Desiree said, her patience wearing thin.

"I think I would know how my mother looks and that's her", Ken said, a strange tone entering his voice.

"But that's my mother!", Desiree yelled in slight panic.

I strode over and took the phone and looked into it. I hadn't seen Ken's mother in a few years so I had forgotten how she looked but I had seen Desiree's mother a few weeks back and she was definitely the woman in the photo. But in my vague memories, Ken's mother looked the same too. I was shocked! Why hadn't I made the connection before?

"Guys, this is Desiree's mother. But this is also Ken's mother!", I stammered, unable to stop the freakish feeling inside me. I was shaking!

"Hey, Desiree?", Ken said breathlessly.

"Yeah?", she answered sounding like she'd just run for on Olympic medal.

"What if your m-mom and m-my mom are t-the same person? What if we're like half brother and sister?", Ken asked. I knew for a fact that when he got nervous, he stammered and said the most absurd things.

"What if?", Desiree said.

"Will you go out with me? Before anything ruins the picture?", Ken asked sweetly. I tried not to choke, instantly awaiting Desiree's answer, though Ken was partly kidding. Desiree laughed nervously.

"S-sure", she smiled weakly at Ken and he took her hand. I scowled. I had no idea when this had started to matter to me but the jealousy was starting to get to me.

"Arsenio?", Desiree whispered softly.

"WHAT?", I snapped, so harshly that Desiree recoiled as if **I'd slapped** **her.** Her jade eyes studied me, wide with shock, the caution evident in her expression. I sighed and shook my head.

"I'm sorry. I just lost it for a second. What did you want to say?", I cleared my throat and struggled to keep my voice normal and level.

"Um, I just wanted to ask you if you could call Alice and ask her about everything. But if you can't then, it's fine. I don't mind", she mumbled and didn't look at me. I didn't answer; I flipped open my phone and punched in Alice's number.

"Hey Ken, what time is it?", I asked, covering the phone with my hand.

"Its 11 AM", he replied evenly.

"So it'll be…..close to 11 PM back home?", I asked. Ken nodded and I hit the call button. It rang a few times and Alice's voice came in.

"Hello?", she said.

"Alice, it's me Arsenio. I just…..", I trailed off, not really knowing how she'd react to me calling her after I left home like that.

"Arsenio, do you have any idea how worried the three of us are? And how worried the Westlakes and our parents would be if they knew what was going on?", Alice said, getting really worked up.

"Oh I am sure you kept them well informed, Alice", I cut in, my voice icy and aggravated. "You know exactly where we are and so do they, right?", I guessed, accusingly.

"Look, that doesn't matter right now. I need you to come back home. This instant!", Alice ordered.

"Sorry sis, we don't take orders form **traitors**. Alice, all you had to do was keep this from mother and father for a few days. But no, as always, you were the first one to rat us out! Now YOU have to fix this", I said, heatedly.

"I'm sorry, Arsenio. I truly am. Let me speak to Desiree and apologize, please", she said, sounding distressed. I handed the phone wordlessly to Desiree.

"Yes, Alice", she tentatively said, taking the phone.

I just tuned out of the conversation, actually regretting what I did to Desiree. I could see she had no idea why I had reacted like this. I mean, why HAD I reacted like that?

_You like her and you're jealous of how she spoke to Ken. _

I knew that it was the only possible explanation but I didn't buy it. Why would I be jealous? And how could Alice do that to us? Something wasn't right. I shook my head to clear it and walked out of the room. Ken stood up and followed me.

"Hey, bud, you wanna tell me what's going on?", Ken asked patiently. I just shook my head and shrugged, conveying that everything was fine.

"Okay, dude, if you say so. What's our next move?", he asked.

"I don't know. Why don't we ask Alice? I'm sure she knows", I muttered angrily. I felt betrayed and hurt.

"Whoa! Arsenio, I haven't seen you speak about Alice that way. What's bugging you?", Ken said, obviously surprised by my mood.

"NOTHING!", I yelled. I pinched the bridge of my nose and tried to calm down. I exhaled. "Sorry, Ken. It's just…Alice…how could she do that? She ratted me out to my parents because we were trying to help them. Why couldn't she keep her trap shut for a few days?".

"Hey, you know she was probably worried about you", Ken reasoned.

"No, Kenny. That's not the reason and **you know it**", I seethed.

"What are you two saying? What other reason could there be?", Desiree demanded.

"I'll tell you! When Kenny and I were kids, Mary probably told you about how good we were at tactical management of national interests. The two of us were unbeatable and our fathers were so swollen with pride that they didn't pay enough attention to Mary and Alice. And our darling over achiever, Alice couldn't bear that. So she schemed and eventually managed to destroy some plans that our father had told us to make for the kingdom. She completely sabotaged it and our fathers were so disappointed that they lost faith in us. We never got the courage to play the game of tactics and plans again because we feared failure", I said, fighting the tears all the way. It was so agonizing to think Alice had done that. Ken looked down, reliving the same memories that I was.

"But Ken and I were too smart for Alice. We managed to catch her red handed, trying to sabotage our newer plans. She confessed to everything and all was forgiven. Until now. I thought Alice was beyond all this. But I guess she proved me wrong. She can't take the fact that Ken and I get to be heroes again", I was livid.

"Arsenio, she told me that we could get away now. That your parents would think we're still in Beijing and that we could leave without getting noticed", Desiree said hopefully.

"Arsenio, she's doing it again", Ken declared and I nodded, agreeing.

"What do you mean? Alice just gave us an escape route", Desiree defended her.

"No, she wants us to leave Beijing so that she can come here and take over. Be the final hero", Ken told her angrily.

"Alice….no! She would never", Desiree insisted stubbornly.

"Des, I assure you that Ken and I know her better and that's EXACTLY what she wants to do. Now, you have a choice, to remain in the shrine with your **pig headed** belief that Alice is innocent. Or come with us, the people who know what the hell to do", I told her roughly as Ken began to pack up all our gear hurriedly. Desiree looked a little emotional and teary but she packed with us and soon, we were running out of the shrine.

"Hey guys, I'd have to go to Xicheng district to my hotel and come to the Fengtai where you stay every morning if we're going to continue sleuthing in China. So, it would be better to stay at your hotel right?", Ken asked.

"Yes, you know you should stay with us for tonight, at least. We should save some money, Ken", I told him.

"Money, why? It's not like you two will ever run out, right? I mean, you're princes", Desiree laughed.

"Yeah but our bank accounts might have been frozen by Alice. And we don't want to get tracked to Beijing. And who knows where this adventure might take us?", I asked, full of spirit.

**A/N: Please tell me what you think! This is dedicated to my dear friend AlexandraSterling **


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9- Where does this leave us? **

"Dude, let's go party!", Ken said brightly. The idea was received positively by Desiree. But I shook my head. Clubbing attracted a lot of attention and I didn't want that, especially since we were lying low. But on their insistence, I went. We stopped by the Blue Lotus Club at 7 PM. It was full, crowded with throbbing music. Ken grabbed Desiree's hand and pulled her past the bouncer and I followed coolly. The club had pale blue lights and blue décor. The walls had weird motifs of flowers.

Ken began to show off his dance skills and Desiree cheered wildly. They both danced non-stop to the thumping music. I danced with several women too but my thoughts were focused on the issues at hand. Desiree was downing the shots at an alarming rate.

"'Senio, dance with me!", Desiree pulled my arm onto the floor. I saw that she was drunk. I sighed; it was going to be impossible to get these two drunken louts back to the hotel in one piece. Desiree was too drunk to notice that I didn't dance with her, I just peeled her off the dance floor and half dragged her with me, to find Ken. Ken wasn't drunk; vampires don't really like alcohol because it makes us sick. Human food is good and we eat it just like humans but alcohol isn't very tolerable.

"Time to leave", I told him with such authority that he daren't refuse. While Ken led the way along the streets, looking for a taxi, I had to tightly hold onto Desiree. She was too drunk to walk straight but she was still coherent.

"How much did you drink, Des?", I asked teasingly.

"Just two shots", she said, holding up 6 six fingers. I laughed with her.

"C'mon guys", Ken motioned towards the waiting taxi. Ken sat in front with the cabby and Desiree and I sat in the back. We kept up our usual constant banter that Ken found rather bizarre. With every passing minute, Desiree became less and less tipsy.

We arrived at the hotel and got out of the cab. But Desiree clung to me, on the staircase, needing my support to 'haul' her up. In the suite, we sat on my bed, discussing what had to be done. We had to go to the shrine and ask one of the junior there about the recent visitor, them being my parents.

"Ken, we can track Micheala and ask her, right?", I suggested suddenly.

"Micheala? No way, dude! You're fishing in the wrong pond!", he refused vehemently. I laughed and nudged him teasingly.

"Who's Micheala?", Desiree asked. Ken blushed at the mention of her name.

"Micheala is Ken's girl", I started and nearly got pounded to death by a fuming Ken. "Okay, okay, sorry!", I begged for mercy.

"Micheala is Ken's ex. She's a vampire, a part of the Beijing clan. Her special ability is to know when something's wrong or right. You know, Ken that would help us a lot", I said.

"Yeah, it would. Okay, I'll call her right now", Ken said, resigned. But he shooed us out so we wouldn't embarrass him. Too bad.

"So, does Ken still like Micheala? Is that why he was blushing?", Desiree asked.

"No, see, Ken had a thing for Micheala but they never went out. So yeah, I'd say he's not over her yet", I laughed at my silly friend.

"Uh-huh. Well Ken asked me out and I said yes. And he still likes Micheala", Desiree said, a funny tone entering her voice. I was instantly possessive over her.

"Well, I know for a fact that Ken's head over heels for Micheala so….", I said awkwardly. I saw Desiree sniffing in annoyance.

"You wanted to go out with him? You like him?", I asked cautiously.

"What does it matter? He's got Micheala", she said, curtly.

"But do you like him?", I persisted.

"Why do you care?", she snapped.

"I think that after what we've been through, you're my friend. I thought I had a right to know", I said defensively.

"Friends? Is that what we are?", she was shouting now. She stood up and so did I, our faces inches apart, both of us glaring.

"Guys!", Ken bounced into the room and stopped, seeing our closeness.

"WHAT?", both of us snapped at him.

"Nothing. I just wanted you to know that I can meet Micheala tomorrow. But if you're busy it can wait", Ken said in a tiny little voice.

"No, why would I be busy? I was just listening to Arsenio raving about how we were FRINEDS!", Desiree screamed in my face.

"Yeah, then what else are we, DES?", I shouted back.

"Okay, I'm gonna go….", Ken said, awkwardly backing out of the room back into mine. I heard the door lock. Desiree whirled around dramatically, to sweep with magnificent anger, I presume, to leave the room. But what she didn't see was the wall.

"Ow!", she slammed into it and toppled backwards. I grabbed her before she fell down. She pulled away and looked at me, like she was sizing me up. I bit my lip, desperately trying to hold in my laughter. Until it I couldn't anymore and it exploded. I burst out laughing and actually fell down, rolling on the floor, literally.

Desiree gave in and laughed with me and threw a pillow at me.

"It's not that funny because it's painful", she grumbled and mumbled a goodnight and left. I finally stopped laughing, composed myself and knocked on my door for Ken to let me in.

"Kenny, we're done. You can let me in now! C'mon I need my sleep", I said, banging to door. I stood like that for 5 minutes but Ken never unlocked the door. I placed my ear against the door and my super vampire hearing picked up Ken's slow and steady breathing. It was heavy like he was…asleep. I silently groaned. I turned to the couch and slumped into it. I tried to sleep, before realizing that it was unbearably uncomfortable. I tossed and turned, unsuccessfully because I fell off the couch. "Jesus Christ!", I grumbled, picking myself off the floor when I heard Desiree's laughter. I turned to see she had been watching me.

"Now we're even", she managed between cackles. "So, why are you here?", she asked, finally stopping.

"Ken locked me out. Pretty boy's snoozing while I'm licking carpets", I scowled. Desiree laughed again.

"Do wanna sleep in my room?", she offered. My eyebrow went up.

"You'd sleep out here while I took your room?", I asked. She rolled her eyes.

"No silly, I think the bed is actually big enough for the both of us", she said, an undercurrent intention to the offer.

"Nightmares still bother you?", I guessed. Desiree looked so helpless and defenseless that I just followed her to the room and sat down on the bed. I had to admit, the bed was really big. Desiree lay down on the other side.

"Now sleep", she commanded.

"Yes ma'am", I obediently pulled the covers to my chin and snapped off the light. I was soon drifting. I woke up suddenly when I heard gunshots, close by. Gunshots! I sat bolt upright, listening carefully to realize the sounds were not bullets but more of a loud thud, thud, thud…

Heartbeats.

More specifically, Desiree's racing heart. I knew it was another nightmare. I debated whether I should wake her. I could make out in the darkness; she was gripping the sheets in tightly clenched fists and squirming.

"Arsenio!", she half-screamed and sat up, gasping for all she was worth. It was like her lungs were hungry; half starved of oxygen and couldn't get enough.

"Des! I'm right here, Des. I'm with you. You're okay", I soothed her, taking her in my arms. I could feel her shaking with terror as she held onto me like she would never let go.

"Arsenio, I thought I'd lost you. I thought you were gone", she whimpered and then came the waterworks. She sobbed uncontrollably. I tried to calm her down but it was useless. I winced; she was crying this much because she thought she'd lost me. She was crying for **me.**

"Shhh", I whispered comforting words in her ears until she stopped crying and fell asleep. I tried to lay her down on the bed but she refused to let go of me, even in her sleep. My insides squeezed. I adjusted myself so she could sleep in my arms. I felt the slight pressure of her head on my shoulder, her shoulder blades relaxed against my chest, her arms tangled with mine.

"_Friends? Is that what we are?"_

I was surprised at the sharpness in her voice when she asked me that. I had begun to wonder myself; were we friends? I mean, I kissed her that once, I couldn't let her fall and get hurt so I saved her, twice, I stayed with her all night when she had night mares, I thought about her all the time, I dreamt of her, I got real jealous when she flirted with Ken, I had also considered telling her the truth of why my eyes had turned green, the truth about my painful past and here I was, soothing her to sleep when she needed me. Was this **just** friendship?

**Desiree's Point of view- **

I finally managed to drop off, knowing I had Arsenio by my side. I couldn't bear to let go of him.

"_Yeah, then what else are we, DES?"_

I remembered what we'd said that night. I wondered seriously if we were something more than friends. I knew I like him; more than I should. And I could see how jealous he was when I was with Ken. And he was always there for me when I needed him. Mary had also told me how differently he reacted towards me. When we argued, it was…well fun. I hopped on a plane and came to China just because he told me to. Didn't that tell him how I felt? I just realized that I was an anti romance love cynic, having 'feelings' towards a royal vampire who just happened to be two people in the same body. I hoped that I would forget the feeling soon. It would just get too complicated and too messy.

Just then, I was half asleep, just below the surface of consciousness. I was aware of everything but my body was still too under to react to anything.

I felt Arsenio's warm breath on my face and his lips lightly brushing against my forehead. And he lightly kissed my cheek.

On normal circumstances, my heart would have leapt and raced, but my body was still asleep. I was glad Arsenio wouldn't have to know that I was actually awake when he kissed my cheek. And this time, he didn't run away. He kissed my forehead again. I knew I wanted him to go on forever. My heart began to react, stuttering excitedly. It was loud, for Arsenio pulled back and whispered, "Des?".

Drat, I was busted.

"Hmm", I answered reluctantly.

"You're awake?", he clarified, sounding very embarrassed.

"Nope", I rolled my eyes and turned to look at him. But I couldn't stop the overwhelming feeling of shyness. I couldn't look into his eyes.

"You're blushing", he said accusingly.

"No I'm not!", I said defiantly but my traitor cheeks had bright red washed over them.

"Why?", Arsenio asked, self consciously.

Just then the door flew open and I heard Ken's voice.

"Arsenio? What the hell are you doing here?", he seemed too stunned to see me in Arsenio's arms.

"Uh, we were just…", Arsenio seemed at a loss for words. So was I. We just stared blankly at Ken and he stared down at us. I don't know why but I couldn't make myself pull away from Arsenio and he didn't react either.

"Look, we don't have time for this. But you'll tell me later. Micheala called and she wants to meet us in the hotel restaurant in one hour. So time to get dressed", and very suspiciously Ken eased out of the room.

"I…..uh….we should… go", Arsenio fumbled with his words and I giggled.

"Arsenio Rivera, tongue tied?", I laughed, loving the fact that his arms were still around me. He laughed with me, not minding that my arms were around him, too.

"Uh, love birds, I think its time to go", Ken called sarcastically from the living room. Both of us blushed hard and reluctantly dropped our arms and got out of bed. He went to his room to shower. I just stumbled into the living room with a vacant expression.

"Really?", Ken sat in front of me with a acerbic look on his face.

"What?", I asked, realizing that I'd been day dreaming.

"You've been sitting there for 5 minutes, smiling and biting your lip, staring past me", Ken justified.

"Oh, um", not sure what to make of this, I looked down, trying to keep my thoughts away from Arsenio. In vain.

"So, what, you're together?", Ken asked.

"No, I don't know what you're talking about", I replied, getting up to go get dressed. I stepped into the shower, the warm water beating down on me. I felt his lips kiss my forehead with placid care and….love. I felt his warm breath on my face, his arms tight around me. I tapped my forehead, knowing I was going insane. And loving every minute of it.

"Are you done, Beauty Queen? We have to leave in 5 minutes!", Arsenio banged on my door as I grabbed my bag and yelled out, "Coming!".

"That's what you said 10 minutes ago, hurry up!", he shouted. I rolled my eyes and hurriedly opened the door. I was welcome by Arsenio's swinging hand, aimed t the door that was now open and replaced by my head.

"No..", I began, holding my hands up protectively but the blow never came. Arsenio chuckled.

"I'm a vampire, babe. I have much better reflexes that you can ever imagine", he said.

"Uh, really?", I asked, batting my eyelashes at him flirtatiously. That threw him for a moment. He seemed slightly uncomfortable when he answered.

"Yes of course". I nodded, while keeping my gaze transfixed into his eyes.

I suddenly raised my hand and smacked his head. He was surprised and angry. I turned to leave, him following me in confusion.

"What'd you do that for?", Arsenio demanded.

"To test your reflexes. Which are apparently not as good as you claim that they are", I tsk-tsked in pity. Arsenio rolled his eyes.

"Whatev, Princess".

"Wait, you become princess if you marry Arsenio, right?", Ken cut in.

I stopped, petrified. Arsenio froze too, not even breathing as we looked at Ken's innocent and completely correct remark.

"Me, marry this dork? Not in a million years. We'd die arguing if we should have off white plates or ivory plates at the wedding", I laughed.

"Yeah, and miss know-it-all would kill me if I wanted to go with the whole Donatella Versace gown", Arsenio stuck his tongue out at me.

"Nuh-uh I am totally not into that. I told you before, I am more of a Christian Dior or Coco Chanel person", I shook my head disagreeing.

"Says who?", Arsenio demanded. And so we continued to argue all the way to the hotel restaurant.

"Versace, honey", Arsenio said, as we walked in, totally unaware that the restaurant was empty except for our recipients who were in fact, not just one, but 3 people.

"No! In our wedding, we're going to have Chanel and Jimmy Choo, period!", I shouted and suddenly stopped comprehending just how loud I was and that our guests were eyeing me.

And further realized that our 'guests' were Alex, Mary and Micheala.

"M-mary, Alex! What are you two doing here?", Arsenio was the first one to break the awkward silence. He cleared his throat.

"Um, we told Ken we were flying in today", Mary looked from me to Arsenio in obvious scrutiny. It was embarrassing. Arsenio glared at Ken.

"Uh, surprise?", Ken said and smiled hopefully. The tension cooled off and we all turned to sit at the table.

"Hey, are you two getting married?", Alex asked cautiously. I just shook my head. Mary raised her eyebrow questioningly.

"Its nothing", I said, looking away. Arsenio remained silent.

I was seated with Arsenio on one side and Ken on the other. While I pretended to be attentive in the casual conversation, I was really tuning into what Ken was saying to Alex.

"Hey Ken, are they together?", Alex asked him.

"I don't know man! I was hoping you could tell me. You know, I flirt with Desiree and Arsenio almost bit my head off, They always argue and stuff but they depend on each other a lot, and get this, I walk into Arsenio's room and Desiree's there and they're hugging!", Ken chuckled.

"Yeah, I saw him in her room once back home too. But I didn't think they could be together. I mean both of them are just too egotistic and arrogant. They won't let their pride down either. But now, with the marriage thing?", Alex said.

"No that was just a thing…..No big deal", Ken assured him and then, they joined in our conversation. But I kept pondering over what they'd spoken.

Could Arsenio and I never survive together?


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10- You're mine**

"So, Des, this is Micheala. Mike, this is Desiree Westlake", Mary introduced us. Micheala was beautiful, as any vampire would be; she had caramel blonde hair and green eyes, a petite figure and a pretty voice. She extended her hand to shake mine.

"Hello, Arsenio's fiancé, I presume", she smiled warmly. I heard Alex try to muffle a chuckle. Mary also bit her lip and looked away.

"Oh, no that was just a…no…I'm not getting married to Arsenio", I mumbled.

"Why not? I think you're a terrific couple", she smiled teasingly. Arsenio looked at her sharply, mortified. I blushed, looking down at my shoes.

"No, we're not…..a….anyway, how are you, Mike?", Arsenio said.

"I'm good, Arsenio. I was just in the neighborhood and Ken called so I decided to stop by. So what's else have you found out since last night?", Micheala 'Mike' asked us. She sounded very professional.

"Nothing yet but we want to clear out why exactly Mary and Alex are here", Arsenio said coldly. "Does Alice know you're here guys?", he asked.

"No, we came when she was out", Mary answered hesitantly. Arsenio immediately glanced at 'Mike' who nodded. I remembered her special talent of telling right from wrong. Must be pretty handy.

"So…", Arsenio prompted Mary.

"Look, we wanted to come from the moment we knew you were gone. But Alice never let us go. But you know how it would turn out if Alice succeeded, like when she destroyed father's trust in you last time. So, we want to be on your team", Mary finished. Micheala nodded again.

"Okay, so we've got a good team, let's get to work", Ken cried enthusiastically getting up. Micheala put out a hand to stop him.

"Wait, Ken, it would look really suspicious with a group of 6 American teenagers with enough cash to live in 5 star hotels running around Beijing", I said seriously. Everyone sighed, looking worried.

"She's right. So what do we do?", Arsenio asked.

"I think Mary and I should leave right now to talk to Mr. Miyagi again. You guys should get rooms here and lay low for today, okay? Once we get back, we'll talk", Micheala said and Mary got up to leave with her.

"Why Mary? She just got here. Maybe I should go", I offered.

"No Mary can sense emotions. So she can tell if Miyagi is hiding something. And I'll know if what he's saying is the truth", Micheala explained and the two left. The rest of us went upstairs to chill in the nothingness for the rest of the day. Alex, Mary and Micheala had booked two more suites in the same floor so it was going to be a lot more comfortable for us.

Alex and Ken got one and Mary and Micheala got the other. Which mean Arsenio and I had to be together. It was a little weird but he didn't seem to mind. The question was…did I mind?

We all met up in Mary's suite for some discussion.

"What if our parents go out of Beijing? Do we follow?", Alex asked.

"I think we should. Well some of us, anyway. You and Mary shouldn't. And we can't ask Micheala to follow us, it wouldn't be fair. So Ken, Des and I will take care of it", Arsenio affirmed. Alex scowled, got us and left the room. I jumped up and followed him into the bedroom where he sat to sulk.

"Alex, I think Alice would be hurt that all of us left her and came to China and that we're together here", I said kindly.

"Well, who cares? It's all Alice's fault. Our parents being gone", he snapped.

"Why in the world would you say that?", I demanded, having had enough of riddles. Arsenio, Mary, Ken; no one told me anything properly. And I had a right to know.

"Well, Alice ruined Arsenio and Ken's lives when they were younger and they got back at her. But she wasn't satisfied. She never stopped. She made him destroy his life with his own hands. It still resurfaces sometimes, when the…..", I was so enthralled in what he was saying that I didn't notice Arsenio marching into the room and stopping him.

"Alex, that's enough!", Arsenio commanded. Alex stood up, glaring at him.

"Why? Why don't you want to face what happened? I won't be stopped. Desiree deserves to know!", Alex shouted, close to tears. I was so stunned that I just gaped at them.

"I get to decide what she knows and what she doesn't, okay? Only I get to decide what she needs to hear!", Arsenio snarled in fury.

"I have to disagree. I am not a child; I need to hear the truth. And I am not property, that you have unanimous claim over!", I shouted, the moment getting very heated.

"You don't get to hear it", he said, getting up in my face.

"I say I do!", I breathed.

"No, you don't have a say in the matter at all".

"I am not your property", I screamed.

"**Yes you're mine.** And I know what's best for you. I know you'll be safer not knowing, okay?", he yelled. It wasn't that I quit the argument because I realized the over-agonizing truth of his words; it was because he called me **his**.

I was silenced and I sat down wearily. Arsenio smiled, proud that he got me back down. Ken seemed to blend into the background. Alex stormed out and went into his suite. Ken reluctantly followed Alex. I stood up to leave, my eyes filling up mysteriously.

"Des….", Arsenio began but I ran out before he finished. I could hear that he was right behind me but I never stopped. I sat on the couch in our suite. I felt distant. Dazed.

"Des, I'm sorry", he mumbled. I looked up at his handsome face, twisted in a mask of worry and concern.

"You called me **yours" **I stated simply, unthinkingly. He looked down, embarrassed. "Am I yours?", I asked, barely audibly.

"Are you mine?", he asked genuinely.

"I don't know, you tell me", my tone was suddenly challenging.

"Am I yours?", he asked testily. I just glared at him. Then, I sighed and nodded. The next thing I knew, Arsenio pulled me up from my seated position and kissed me, long and deep.

Time seems to freeze at first, letting you savor the moment that you've waited for. And then, time cruelly makes time fly, making you forget how many minutes have passed while you were in paradise.

I finally pulled back, craving oxygen. The two of us backed away, breathing hard and heavy. I looked at him, wondering if he'd run away like last time. Praying that he wouldn't.

"I'm waiting for your reaction", I stated, gazing at him, surprised by the slight tension.

"How do you think I'd react?", Arsenio asked, humoring me. I just shrugged and was taken completely off guard when he held me, spun me around and dropped me low, almost touching the floor. But he held on, a wicked smile on his face.

"What are you….", I began but I was cut off by his loving kiss. I tried not to laugh; I mean, this was just so sweet. He straightened and I pressed closer to him, still kissing.

When I opened my eyes, I realized we'd backed against the wall. He pulled back and began to laugh and the musical sound was so infectious that I joined, unable to resist even if I wanted to. And we laughed together, hugging. Ken came in, taking in our sideways embrace and hysterics. Alex followed, looking apologetic.

We desperately tried to stop laughing and finally calmed down after 5 minutes. We dropped our embrace and sat up properly.

"What's so funny?", Alex asked.

"No…don't. We don't want to know", Ken sighed and sat down with us. "Micheala and Mary are on the way here. They just wanted to freshen up a bit", he said. With her usual impeachable timing, Micheala waltzed in with Mary, smiling hugely.

"Excellent news, Miyagi told us that the parents are well and safe and he was not lying or hiding the truth. And we also know that they're out of Beijing", Micheala announced.

"Wow! That's great", and many other comments were being made. But nothing seemed that very interesting anymore. I tried to keep my eyes off Arsenio. And calm my excited pulse.

"But its not like you didn't have any excitement down here, right?", Micheala suggested, eyeing me.

"Nope not really", Arsenio answered and I looked at him. Both of us looked away, biting our lips, to hold in the giggles.

"What?", Mary demanded and everyone turned to gauge our reactions and expressions.

"Nothing" we said.

"So where are they, if they aren't in China?", I asked.

"We believe that they are somewhere in South Europe", Micheala said.

"Oh great, lets check out tomorrow. Alex, Mary go back home on the next flight out of here. Micheala, thank you so much but we can take it from here. Ken, Desiree go pack right now", Arsenio switched into official mode.

"Not so fast, big boy. I'm going with you", Micheala said authoritatively. "I'm an invaluable asset. Please", she added pleadingly.

"Yeah and we're going too, Arsenio. You can't leave us", Mary said. Arsenio knew how much they wanted to come so he allowed it, provided that he was the boss. And a big flurry of packing and cleaning began. We all bought clothes and supplies and busied ourselves with leaving. I never really got a moment alone with Arsenio. Which was good because I could think things out. But I had no visible success with that.

"Hey, where exactly are we going?", I asked as Arsenio came into the room with Micheala.

"Our plane is to Milan, Italy. We have to meet the coven leaders there and go according to what they say", he answered, not looking at me.

"So how exactly do we have enough finances if you don't want to withdraw from your bank accounts", I asked.

"We all have off shore accounts that can't be tracked. Your parents have made them for you too; you just don't know it", Arsenio smirked at me.

"Yeah, and I think we have to share two suites tonight. It attracts less attention. Desiree, you can move in with us and the boys can move in with Arsenio", Micheala said. I nodded, the pit of my stomach sinking.

It terrified me, to think I'd have to be away from Arsenio when I slept. It was like he kept my nightmares away. Like he repelled them.

I told this to Arsenio and he got a look in his eyes like he knew why that was happening. But he didn't say anything.

After all the packing was done, the vampires went to the 'hospital'. Which didn't mean that they were sick, but that they were thirsty. They needed a blood bank. I preferred to stay at home. I moved into my new room for the girls and fell asleep, waiting. It was really late when they came and they didn't really rouse me.

"I am so sorry Desiree. But I can't let you go with them", the man told me. I tired to stop the tears from pouring but it was useless.

"Please, please let me go with them. My parents, my friends, Arsenio, they're all I've got!", I sobbed. But the cold man shook his head. "Please", I begged, holding onto his arm. He pulled away roughly and yelled in rage.

"It's your fault", he shouted and pointed his gun at Arsenio.

BANG!

"It's your fault he's dead".

I screamed till my lungs gave out. I tried to focus on the room that was becoming clearer in my vision but I couldn't. Nothing was coherent. Why? Why couldn't I get a single night's sleep without waking everyone else?

I began to sob. Once I started, it was uncontrollable and painful. I gasped for all I was worth but couldn't seem to get enough air. I broke out in cold sweat. I could faintly sense the others around me, trying to calm me but it was useless. My shoulders heaved and I cried my eyes out.

Now Arsenio was dead and it was all my fault. My fault.

"Call Arsenio, now! Go!", I heard. But I knew he wouldn't come. How could he come? He was dead.

**Arsenio's point of view- **

"Arsenio?", I heard Mary's voice at the door. I was already awake and I knew she had another nightmare. I pulled the door open and commanded Mary to get Micheala out of the room. Desiree didn't need anyone else in the room. And I dashed inside. I saw her sitting on the bed, crying with such sorrow, fear and pain. And I knew she believed that I was dead. She always did, when she woke up.

"Hey, Des? I'm here. I'm alright, see? I'm fine", I sat down and pulled her into my arms. She sobbed against my chest.

"I killed Arsenio!", she half screamed. I realized she was still delirious and not completely lucid. I managed to calm her down and I sat down, ready to stay all night with her because she needed me. But Desiree, being Desiree as tenacious and egotistic as she is, didn't let me.

"Go, I'll be fine", she told me. I got up and left with Alex and Ken.

Within an hour, Desiree's heart was hammering again and I could hear her chanting my name softly as she ground her teeth. There were footsteps approaching the door but I flew out before Mary could knock. Ken and Mary hurried behind me.

I saw Desiree in worse shape than ever. I shushed her soothingly, stroking her hair, her back and pelting kisses on the top of her head. But she kept crying into my chest. It hurt me almost physically, to see her heart wrenching sobs, knowing that she was crying for the guilt that I was dead and it was her fault, when clearly I wasn't.

She settled for crying a little more softly and less violently though her pain couldn't have possibly eased.

"Is this why you have to be with her at night?", Ken asked me. I looked up at him and nodded gravely.

"Why doesn't she have the dreams when you're with her?", he asked.

"I am not sure. She claims that I 'numb' out the dreams. That she can't sleep without me", I said carefully, implying something.

"You think it has to do with your green eyes thing?", Ken guessed. I smiled darkly at his 'green eyes thing'.

"Yes, Ken that's what I think it is. It doesn't work with anyone else. Just me. So it has to mean something", I said, "Right, Micheala?".

"Yes, Arsenio. You're right. It is true that your…..situation helps numb out the nightmares. But I want to know why in both the dreams she's had, she thinks you're dead and it's her fault", Micheala asked.

"I don't know. She even used to get that she was responsible for her parents' death. Micheala? Could this be the work of outside forces?", I asked, praying for it not to be.

"Yes, Arsenio, it is. I think its witch craft or something", Micheala said tiredly. I sighed.

"Okay, Mary, Micheala go sleep in my room. I'll stay here with Desiree. She might wake up again and I need you guys to get some rest, okay?", I told them. I wasn't too sure if she would wake but I wanted to be prepared. Reluctantly Mary and Micheala went and Ken went to bed in the other room, where Alex was still asleep.

"Arsenio?", Desiree whispered.

"Yes?", I said.

"I want to take a shower. May I?", she asked weakly as I helped her stand up and led her to the bathroom. When she was done showering she came out and barely had the strength to stand up, let alone walk up to the bed. I scooped her up in my arms and laid her down, gently pulling the covers over and making her comfortable.

"Arsenio?", she said again.

"What is it, Dessy?", I said lovingly. I couldn't help it, she looked so vulnerable.

"I am so sorry. You need to go to the other room and sleep", she told me.

"Des, I woke up when I was in another suite for you, what good will the room do?", I said teasingly. She giggled.

"But I am sorry. If you want to drop me home so I won't bother you on this trip, I won't object", she sighed. I knew how badly she wanted to come and it was killing her to make the choice but she was leaving it up to me.

"No way, I need you on this one. That is, if you still want to come", I offered. But I wasn't prepared to hear an answer that was so grudgingly honest and touching.

"I'd rather die than be away from you", she told me, her eyes closed.

"Desiree, I love you".

Just like that, I dropped the bombshell. I just blurted it out without considering. But I never regretted saying it. It was the truth.

I did love her. And I would protect her, forever.

"Huh, I am exhausted. I didn't get much sleep last night", Desiree told me as the plane took off. We were next to each other and beside me, I had Micheala. We had Alex, Mary and Ken across the aisle.

"I know. I didn't get much sleep, either", I laughed.

"Hey, I am so sorry. I don't know what to…..", she began to apologize.

"Shh. We can do this later. Right now you need to have a little siesta", I ordered. Desiree gave me a disapproving look.

"Yes, Mom!", she rolled her eyes and leaned against the window, obviously not a comfy position to sleep. I sighed at her pride; she could ask me, could she? I tugged her onto my shoulder and she smiled gratefully. As her breathing grew more regular, I kissed her forehead.

"You really love her, don't you?", Micheala asked me but it was more like a statement because she already knew the answer.

"The question is…..does she?", Micheala mused aloud. I rolled my eyes.

Almost an hour after Desiree had fallen asleep, she began to talk. At first, it was just restless mumbling but she became clearer progressively.

"Listen to her sleep-talk. Sometimes it's really funny", I encouraged Micheala. Ken, Mary and Alex leaned so they could hear too but they had super vamp hearing.

"Arsenio..", Desiree mumbled and sighed. All eyes on me.

"Arsenio, I love you", she said. A feeling coursed through me as I looked at Desiree, with disbelieving ears. She loved me? I could have sworn it was the more amazing feeling ever. But then I became aware of the stares.

And I blushed hard. Gosh, it was great to hear Desiree say that. But it should have been private. They all turned away, to give me time to digest this, I presume.

But they were all hysterical. Micheala spoke to me, "You're right, Arsenio. Sometimes, Desiree's sleep-talk isn't just funny; it's hilarious", and looked away before the cackles could explode.

**A\N So they're finally together! Tell me what you think, please! **

**Love you all!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11- Turbulence **

The plane jolted wildly. Jerked around and seemed to tilt and spin. I gripped the hand rest tightly. Desiree looked at me worriedly. I knew she wasn't too good with flying, let alone in bad weather.

"Turbulence. Don't worry", I soothed her but we never relaxed. The turbulence didn't reduce or stop for about 10 minutes and there was general unease and panic in the passengers when the stewardesses began to check the oxygen masks. They also told us to fasten our seatbelts. I hid my smug expression; I wouldn't have a scratch even if I fell from the sky. But I had to do as I was told. Desiree was clutching at my hand, gazing out of the window. There was a lot of lightning and thunder. The plane jerked again. Some passengers began to chant hymns, fearing the worst. Children sensed the tension and began to cry. It was altogether very ominous in the plane. It just became a whole lot worse when the lights flickered and dimmed. The air conditioning began to whir loudly and stopped.

"Oh god! I know what's happening. We're going to crash, aren't we?", Desiree asked me dolefully. I shook my head.

"Stop being such a drama queen. We'll be fine. It's just turbulence".

"Yeah, we'll be fine, Desiree", Micheala assured her. Des nodded and leaned back, still looking unconvinced.

"Relax. Do you really think I'm going to let anything happen to you?", I teased her, grinning. I just wanted her to smile.

"No you're not. But what about everyone else on this plane who aren't lucky enough to have a vampire boyfriend?", she demanded.

I was going to interrupt her but I froze; she called me her 'boyfriend'. I cleared my throat before I spoke, a little shy.

"Okay, let me rephrase; do you think we'll let anything happen to anyone on this plane?", I asked.

"No….but how much can 5 vampires do?", Desiree asked the question that was bothering me too. I simply squeezed her hand.

The plane jerked again. The captain's voice crackled on the intercom.

"Hello, passengers, this is your Captain speaking. I assure you that we have the situation under control. Bad weather with a little rough functioning of the engine cause the turbulence. But we're going to be fine. I wish you happy flying", as soon as the captain said this, the plane twisted and turned, as if disagreeing with the captain's words. There was a small explosion near the left wing and plane rocked wildly.

"I should have known! The plane has been sabotaged, wired to crash!", Micheala murmured. "I questioned it and I was right. This was done so we'd never make it to Milan, alive. When all the humans are dead, they planned to come to the crash site and kill us", Micheala sounded surprisingly calm despite the gruesome topic.

"We have to do something. We can't just sit here and be responsible for the deaths of all these innocent humans, just because some psycho is after us", Alex said determinedly. Mary and Ken nodded.

"Okay, all of you keep your oxygen masks close. And get down, like you're scared", I commanded. So the six of us did what I said. Soon, the passengers around began to copy us, fearing for their own safety. In about 10 minutes, everyone on the plane was clutching the mask and sitting crouched.

"Great idea Arsenio! How did you know this would work?" Desiree asked me excitedly.

"Monkey see, monkey do, right?", I laughed. "Okay, so now, even if there is sudden impact, the passengers are safe to an extent. Now, to figure out what to do when we crash. The plane will burn, unless…. Are we above an ocean, Micheala?", I asked her.

She furrowed her brow for a minute and answered, "Yes we are. If we crash within the next 2 hours, we land in water".

"Okay, so the real danger is drowning", my eyes darted across the plane and I saw the life savers and rafts, deflated, in the corner. I rose slowly, only to find Desiree grabbing my arm, not wanting to be alone. The two of us walked over to the stewardesses and I looked into their eyes.

"You need to start inflating the rafts and tubes right now. Its for the best, okay?", I told me, compelling them to do it immediately. Alex, Ken and I stayed to help them. When all of the rafts and vests were inflated, we passed them around to the terrified passengers. One particular passenger I went to hand him a vest when I sensed that he was not a human; he was a full vampire. I smiled and looked into his eyes, heavy with implications. He understood and got up to help us. I looked at him; he was about 18, brown hair, dark eyes and a charming smile.

"Hello, I'm Arsenio Rivera", I told him quietly.

"Ah yes, the royal. I'm Jeff Conrad, a citizen of the Milan coven. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir", he said coolly.

"I do suppose we can count on you to save innocent lives, as the engine has been tampered with?", I said.

"Of course, I will do anything I can to help", was his reply and he decided to join us at our seats. After all, we still had to pretend we were human and we weren't allowed to walk around a plane, affected by turbulence.

As if the plane decided that it had had enough, it lurched forward and its nose dipped sharply, throwing everyone against the front seat.

"Everyone, please remain calm and get under the seats", the pilot instructed over the intercom. People grabbed their masks and vest and sat in anticipation as the plane finally tossed and hurtled towards the ocean beneath.

Nothing was clear. Everything was happening so fast.

Screaming, crying, panic.

Explosions, fire, bone shattering impact.

Gushing water. Stricken families. Splashing and swimming to the surface.

People screaming for their loved ones.

I just dove in and out of the water, ferrying as many people as possible to the surface. Ken, Alex, Mary, Micheala, Jeff and Desiree too. We worked so hard, swimming to the charred remains of the plane, diving into it and pulling out the passengers. Some were unconscious and had to be taken to the surface personally. Others just needed assistance to go all the way up. While some were just stuck and had to get out.

Some of the other passengers also tried to help us. Soon, we were able to get all the people out of the rubble alive.

"That's the last of 'em. No pets or anything, either", Jeff told us, while passing the child to her worried parents who thanked us profusely.

"Okay, now we have to find a way to get out of here. I mean, there could be sharks and what not", Mary said.

"Yeah, let's get everyone on the rafts and wearing vests. The pilot would know what we have to do", Jeff said, helping a little boy onto the empty raft. When all the passengers were in rafts, safely, the pilot told us that we had to keep moving forward, because a ship would be coming for us. He'd radioed them but we had to keep moving and stick together.

Just in case, I had Alex, Micheala, Mary, Ken, Jeff and Desiree on different rafts. For the protection of the people.

It wasn't long before the passengers were climbing aboard a ship, drying off on the deck and being assigned rooms. Because there was an apparent shortage of rooms, almost 3 people had to share a single room.

The steward pointed us towards the rooms; there were 7 of us, including Jeff and there were three rooms. The steward was apologetic when he informed us that these were the last rooms available.

"Okay, 4 girls and 4 boys, we really just need two rooms", Mary said.

"But we've got three. So we might make the best of it", Micheala shrugged, "Mary and I will take the smaller one".

"And I think I'll stay with Desiree", I muttered quietly. It felt weird to say it out loud. Especially in this situation.

"Oh the nightmares?", Mary asked sympathetically. I nodded gravely.

"That leaves Alex, Ken and Jeff with the big room", Micheala declared. We all hurried in and settled.

I took the much needed shower and thought about what we'd gone through that day. We had no idea where we were and how we would get to Milan. I didn't feel particularly comfortable traveling on a plane, after what we saw today. Someone came scarily close to taking the lives of so many innocent civilians just to stop us from getting to Milan. And I wasn't too crazy about doing that again. Desiree went in to shower after me, but I sat lost in contemplation.

Desiree came out of the shower, looking adorable with wet hair and a bathrobe. Her pale skin was flushed and refreshed. She walked out to the balcony getting an amazing view of the ocean beyond the ship. She leaned against the railing, faced away from me. I realized that I was ogling and tried to look away but I couldn't tear my eyes away. I silently got up and joined her at the balcony.

"What a day", she whispered, looking out at the night sea that was black with silver streaks of moonlight. It was calm now, after the storm. Peaceful.

"Yeah", I mumbled, taking a step closer to her, feeling surprisingly shy. I gingerly pulled her to me, leaning her back against my chest, putting my hands around her waist.

She pressed closer to me, her tousled hair flowing over my shoulder. I leaned down, nestling my face into the crook of her neck, reveling in the scent of her strawberry shampoo. I brushed my lips along her jaw and she turned around to kiss me briefly. We enjoyed the silence around us, except for the crashing waves and the night breeze.

I don't know how long we stood like that but I lifted my head, knowing tomorrow would be complicated enough, without us being loopy with sleep deprivation.

"Come on, we need some shut eye", I tugged her inside and shut the door. Desiree yawned and got under the covers. I sat down next to her. I felt wary about getting under the covers next to her but I did, anyway. Desiree snapped off the lights and plunged the room into darkness, leaving the strips of moonlight, peeing through the windows. I was seized by discomfort. Did I have to touch her to keep the nightmares at bay? Or just sleep by her?

I knew I would be a lot more comfortable with her in my arms. As if she read my thoughts, Desiree reached under the quilts and held my hand. Feeling emboldened, I snuggled closer.

"Arsenio?", she whispered.

"What is it, Des?", I asked, alert at once.

"Nothing, I just…..I would um…feel better if you held me….you know", Desiree said, sounding embarrassed and awkward about asking this of me.

"Never thought you'd ask", I said in relief. Desiree giggled. I pulled her into my arms lovingly. It was like we fit perfectly, the contours of our bodies, shaped together. It wasn't two seconds before we both had zonked out.

The annoying knocking broke into my slumber. I groaned, rubbing my eyes with my palms. I turned over, trying to sleep again. But the tapping persisted. I waited for a moment, as the happenings of the previous night came back to me. I sat up, opening my eyes, careful not to disturb Desiree who was curled up beside me, fast asleep.

I reached to the door knob and opened and immediately climbed back into bed, stroking Desiree soothingly. Micheala walked in and chirped loud enough to wake the entire ship, let alone Desiree.

"Hey sleepy heads! Rise and shine!".

I hissed at her sharply, gesturing to Desiree who sat up, scared and dazed.

"Wha….", she mumbled, slumping back when she saw it was just us. I glared at Micheala.

"Sorry, Desiree. I just came to ask you what was on the agenda for today. But I guess I'll give you a minute to get dressed and we can meet for breakfast", Micheala said quickly and rushed out. I got up, begrudgingly to get ready for the day.

At the ship's banquet hall, Alex, Mary, Micheala and Ken sat at a table with their phones out, looking something up on Google.

"Where's Jeff?", Desiree asked.

"He left, on a motor boat. I think he compelled them into letting him go. We don't really know who he is", Mary said.

"Okay, so this ship docks at Mombassa in Kenya in two days. We can get a plane back to the States from there", Alex told us as soon as we sat down at the breakfast table.

"Wait, what about Milan? What about our parents?", Ken asked desperately.

"Have to ditch that. How can we go on, knowing what a danger we were to the other passengers on the plane? They sabotaged our plane to get rid of us", Alex informed him, looking frightened.

"Okay, we have to go back. But one thing, is there no way the ship docks anywhere with an airport within the next 24 hours?", Micheala asked.

"Nope", the waiter answered cheerfully, handing out the menus. We all placed our orders.

"So we're stuck on the ship with nothing to do for 2 days?", Ken asked, frustrated.

"Yes, it seems like it. Maybe we can do some sleuthing from here", Micheala said thoughtfully.

"How do you propose we do that?", Desiree demanded.

"Well, we should call Mr. Miyagi for some answers. Or call any other clan elder we know. I know the one at Milan and we can ask about your parents. And Mr. Miyagi is sure to know how your mother looks like Desiree's, Ken. And then, we can decide how to proceed. One of you should really call Alice and apologize. She might help us", Micheala explained.

"Calling our parents won't help. I tried and it kept saying that they didn't exist", Desiree said, her eyes filling with tears. I embraced her, feeling her pain.

"Formulating a solid plan seems like a good idea", Mary put in.

"And we can also figure out who tried to kill us on that plane", Alex said, sounding glum. I agreed, we had a lot of time and so much to do.

"Okay, team, let's get on it. Now or never", I said, trying to make the grave situation happier. Unsuccessfully, of course.

**A/N: Thank you for following my story. I hope you liked reading it as much as I loved writing it. I am surprised really. I see that 1000+ people read it but I only get a few comments. I am open to constructive criticism so please tell me how you feel. I would love it! Thanks! **


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12- Deckchairs and catfights**

"Thank you so much, Mr. Wellington. We really appreciate the help" Micheala said to the steward, batting her eye lashes flirtatiously.

"Hmrph".

I bit my lip and looked away, trying not to laugh. Desiree, beside me was doing the same. So was Alex.

We were sitting on deck chairs by the ship's railing, enjoying the ocean. Sadly, the sun was hidden by dark clouds in the sky, indicating a tropical storm. But it was nice enough to lounge there and do nothing for the entire morning. We had all agreed that we needed to relax for the day.

So here we were, Desiree and me sharing one chair, Alex on our right and Micheala on our left. Next to Alex were Ken and Mary.

Ken was simple fuming; Micheala had spent about 15 minuets talking to the cute steward, Wellington, and flirting non-stop. And the man was eager to respond to her unnecessary friendliness. Ken was so angry that he'd been scowling and making snide comments under his breath, not thinking we could plainly see what was going on.

Which is why the three of us had a hard time holding in our giggles. Mary was curled up, fast asleep. Alex held up his sports magazine studiously but I could tell he was listening to the flirting.

"Did you have to suck up to him that much?" Ken demanded as the steward strolled away. He was failing at his attempt to be inconspicuous. We could see through him easily but Micheala chose to feign nonchalance. I could see through her too, noting the frigid shoulders and icy glare.

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about" she snapped, pulling on her sunglasses and lying back.

"Oh come on! Even a two year old could see what you were doing. Desperate much?" Ken yelled. Micheala sat up, yanking off those sunglasses in anger.

"At least I'm doing something that will help us when we dock at Mombassa! I got us plane reservations back to the States through Wellington and I was just thanking him for it" she screamed in Ken's face.

"Yeah, I am sure that's ALL you were doing with him" Ken snarled and looked away, steaming.

"WHAT did you say, Mr. Kenneth?" Micheala spelled out each syllable clearly.

"Nothing" Ken muttered. No I had to admit, it was getting a bit too serious.

"What was that?" Micheala persisted.

"I said NOTHING! Absolutely nothing" Ken shouted. I drew back in surprise. I had never seen Ken this mad before. Or even Micheala for that matter.

"Really? Because I heard something!" Micheala refused to back down.

"Oh stop being a big whiny baby, Micheala!" Ken yelled, finally losing the last straw of his patience and leaving the deck in a huff.

"I thought he'd never leave!" Micheala mumbled and shoved the sunglasses back onto her face before lying onto the deck chair.

I wondered why Micheala bothered wearing sunglasses; it looked like it was going to rain any second and the sun wasn't to be seen anywhere.

"This is awkward" Desiree murmured to me.

"Micheala?" I said to her.

"What, Arsenio? If you're trying to take up Ken's side of this, I think you should go right ahead" Micheala snapped acidly.

"I wasn't…" I began but she cut me off.

"No, I don't wanna heard it". And something inside me snapped.

"Well, I can see why Ken's having a fit" I muttered darkly.

"What did you say?" Micheala rose. When I didn't reply she yelled, "If you have something to say to me Arsenio, you need to say it to my face!".

"Oh for crying out loud" I said, getting up. I scowled at Micheala before marching off the deck.

"Arsenio?" I heard Desiree's voice behind me but I ignored it.

I went into the cabin to find Ken. I saw him standing broodingly at the balcony. I joined him silently. I could literally feel the waves of anger rolling off him. I had to admit, I was pretty mad too.

"I had a row with Micheala too" I told him, trying to break the silence.

"Yeah, well, who wouldn't? When she's being such a b****" Ken said, glowering at the water. I was taken aback; Ken never spoke like that, to anyone let alone Micheala.

I guess tempers were all running high on account of the tragic mishaps of the past week. So it made sense that someone hit a nerve somewhere. But not like this. I mean, this was just too much.

"Ken, don't make mountains out of this molehill" I told him comfortingly.

"Why, Arsenio! I'll do whatever I want! Make as many molehill-mountains as I like" Ken whipped around to face me in annoyance.

"No Ken..I…" I started, "You shouldn't dig a bigger hole with this. I think you need to close it now" I told him.

"Well, I'll dig as many holes as I want! I am a digger; a shovel, an earth mover!" Ken declared and stopped, realizing the sheer stupidity of what he had just said. We both burst out laughing at once.

I smiled at Ken; he had a hot temper but we were just like that, we made a stupid joke and laughed it off. Ken and I had grown up together and I could read him like an open book. I knew he could read me too.

"You really like her don't you?" I asked him quietly although I really knew the answer.

"YOU really like HER, don't you?" he threw the question back at me.

We both considered for a moment before answering together,

"Yeah, I do".

"Aw, glad to see you guys are friends again. Now kiss and make up" Desiree teased us from the doorway.

"Who are you calling gay?" Ken demanded, pretending to be upset. "And besides, he's unavailable".

"Too bad, Kenny" Desiree laughed tauntingly.

I took a few steps towards her warningly. "You think I'm gay?" I asked her threateningly, towering over her. I could see she was a bit nervous and back away from me a bit. But her back pressed against the wall and I trapped her.

"Do you?" I persisted.

"Yeah I do" the voice came out shaky.

"Maybe this will change your mind" with that, I leaned forward and kissed her. I felt her fingers interlock through my hair. And for the billionth time, I thanked my lucky stars that I had found Desiree.

"Ew, you two! Get a room" Ken complained, making gagging sounds.

We broke apart, breathing heavily and blushing. I guess it was easy to forget that we weren't alone. I cleared my throat awkwardly.

"So, um, Ken, are you okay now? 'Cause two minutes ago, you resembled a storm cloud" Desiree asked.

"I'm fine though I am now a bit disturbed after watching you….." and he cut off by knocking.

The three of us turned around to see a fuming but surprisingly composed Micheala leaning on the doorframe. My previous irritation flared at once. She cleared her throat before speaking.

"Can I talk to Ken, you guys? Alone…if that's okay" she said tightly. I didn't move but out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ken's jaw tighten convulsively.

"Sure, Micheala" Desiree specified deliberately and towed me along, practically having to drag me past Micheala. I saw her shut the door after us but Desiree didn't let me stay and listen in on them.

"Desiree! Kenny needs me out there" I whined, scowling.

"Oh stop it. It's between Ken and Micheala and should stay that way" Desiree told me seriously. "I mean, if it were between us, would you want Mary or Alex to listen in on us?" she asked me.

"You mean I have to imagine a situation where you were throwing yourself at a steward and I had to watch that?" I threw back.

"N-no" that stopped her for a moment. I realized that my statement had hurt her a little but I made no apologies.

"I am sorry Arsenio, but I want you to know that THAT will never happen" she snapped at me.

"You won't ever flirt with a steward like that?" I clarified.

"I promise" she batted her eyelashes at me. I laughed and hugged her tight. And we twirled around like that, giggling like school kids. I suddenly felt her stiffen against me and wrench herself away from me.

I was confused; what was she doing?

Before I could react, she pulled back and shoved me hard. Normally, I would have been able to resist her push but she caught me off guard and I fell back against the railing which gave away underneath me. I felt myself falling headlong into the icy ocean waters. And heard Desiree's piercing scream of pain.

**A\N: What cause Desiree to shove Arsenio, the love of her life, off the ship? (Not that it would make a difference to him; he could catch up to the ship and all). Something happened. **

**Possibly something big. **

**Read on to find out! **


End file.
